Divest from the War Machine - World Beyond War . . .

World BEYOND War organizes to remove public and private assets from weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and war profiteers.

Divestment is organizing to remove public and private assets from weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and war profiteers. Grassroots-led war divestment campaigns are springing up all over the world, from students organizing to divest university endowments from weapons manufacturers and war profiteers, to municipalities and states coming together to divest public pension funds from the war machine.

Public pension and retirement funds are often invested, directly and indirectly, in weapons companies. Teachers and other public servants whose interests lie with promoting human needs have their retirement security tied up with maintaining or enlarging the war industry. Every dollar currently invested in weapons and war is a dollar that could be better spent on job creation, education, housing, healthcare, food security, and so much more.

War profiteering is largely normalized today. We’re working to stigmatize the war machine. World BEYOND War assists divestment campaigns led by our chapters, affiliates, and other coalitions and individuals.

To get involved, scroll down and contact us, or sign the Declaration of Peace here and check “I want to work on divestment” to get involved.

To learn more, check out these resources:

Coalitions and Campaigns:

World BEYOND War is a founding member of the Divest from the War Machine Coalition.
If you live in Philadelphia, PA, join the local Divest Philly from the War Machine Coalition.
If you live in the U.S., click here to email your state legislators to divest state pension funds from war.

Top 20 Weapons Dealers:

It is generally easiest to divest from a regularly updated list of the biggest weapons companies. Here are the top 20 weapons dealers in the world: Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing, Northrop Grumman Corp., Raytheon, General Dynamics Corp., BAE Systems, Airbus Group, BAE Systems Inc. (BAE Systems UK), Leonardo, Almaz-Antey, Thales, United Technologies Corp., L3 Technologies, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Honeywell International, United Aircraft Corp., Leidos, Harris Corp., United Shipbuilding Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton, Rolls-Royce, Naval Group.

Online Resources:

A model successful campaign led by WBW.
Articles about divestment on this website.
Top weapons investments by various countries and states.
Divest Campaign Guide: Learn about divestment and how to start a campaign.
Divest List: A list of the major weapons manufacturing companies and military contractors. The Norwegians have set a great example of transparency on their federal divestment policy. Here is the list of companies that Norway excludes from its government pension fund, and the reasons for this exclusion.
Don’t Bank on the Bomb Investors List: A searchable database of the top financial institutions invested in nukes.
Divest Your City Toolkit: Template for passing a city council resolution.
Divest Your School: University guide for student activists.
Template letter to portfolio managers about divestment here. (Template created by Ingrid Style.)
Sample resolutions/legislation: Examples of divestment policies adopted around the world
Handbook: How to divest from nuclear weapons
Weapon Free Funds Database: A searchable database of mutual fund and ETFS that ranks companies by % invested in weapons of war. Here’s a primer about how to use the database.