Engineering for Peace : Challenges and Opportunities

Engineers of the 21^st century need to be more than providers of technical solutions. They must also play an active role in peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peacekeeping efforts. Their work contributes to Track 2 or citizen diplomacy. This paper discusses the value proposition of using a systemic approach to positive peace and the importance of developing programs such as peace engineering to provide engineers with the attitude, skills, and knowledge necessary to work in complex and difficult settings in their lifetime. There is an urgent need to develop a comprehensive body of knowledge and a community of practice in peace engineering. The engineering profession must take the lead in creating a peace industrial complex so powerful that it will disturb and replace the current war industrial complex.