Location: The Heritage Foundation's Lehrman Auditorium

To describe current anti-war protest as a reaction to the invasion of Iraq or an anti-Bush phenomenon is to miss the point. A closer look at the protestors and their associations reveals a pedigree going back at least to the Vietnam era and beyond to the "progressive" and protest politics of earlier decades. The leaders of the "anti-war" movement today are leftists in ideology. Almost all oppose capitalism and believe in socialism; many are Communists. At root, they are anti-American rather than anti-war. Anti-war groups comprise an authentic political movement. They have distinctive forms of organization, outlets for propaganda, favored strategies and tactics, and access to information technology that increasingly allows their communications to be instantaneous and global. In short, they are a political force.

In The Politics of Peace – just published by the Capital Research Center – Professor John Tierney, Jr., focuses on the individuals and groups who lead and coordinate the demonstrations, orchestrate media stunts, network across the Internet, and provide the organization and direction to what he describes as a permanent, full-time cadre of professional operatives.

John J. Tierney, Jr., is Faculty Chairman and Walter Kohler Professor of International Relations at The Institute of World Politics. Formerly, he served as Special Assistant and Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1981-1993); participated in various national security negotiations for the U.S. Government; was Executive Director of the Congressional Caucus on National Defense and the National Security Research Group at the U.S. House of Representatives; and was Chairman of the Politics Department at the Catholic University of America.