About Our Chapter

The Hampton Roads WBW chapter, formalized in 2026, resides in one of the most militarized regions on the planet! Active-duty military, military retirees, government civilian employees, and government contractor personnel constitute a significant portion of the local population. US NATO commands, the Joint Forces Staff College, and the world’s largest naval base are located in Norfolk, a major city in the Hampton Roads community. All the armed services have a local presence.

Much of the local economy revolves around war and war preparations—even in the absence of open hostilities. Hence, many of us are trapped into thinking that war is inevitable, there is no substitute, world peace is a pipe dream, etc. We can’t imagine a world absent the economic engine that militarism supplies. And, as Elise Boulding, peace activist and a founding figure of Peace and Conflict Studies noted, “People can’t work for what they can’t imagine.”

WBW Hampton Roads works to change mindsets and help people imagine a world beyond war. We collaborate with other local peace organizations and focus on campaigns to provide citizens with information and alternative perspectives for building a peace economy and a culture of peace. We seek dialogue with all members of our community, employing nonviolent communication methods as developed by Marshall Rosenberg, American psychologist, mediator and teacher, to identify and resolve roadblocks to achieving a peace economy and a world beyond war.