Former CIA officer launches peace podcast amid global conflict

Janessa Gans Wilder, a former CIA officer and founder of Euphrates Institute, has launched Peace Is Power, a podcast aimed at reframing peace as a national security tool. The show debuts as wars, displacement and U.S. retrenchment fuel new questions about whether force alone can make Americans safer.

Why it matters: - The launch lands as active conflicts worldwide have reached their highest levels since World War II. - More than 120 million people have been forcibly displaced by conflict. - The podcast argues that peacebuilding is a practical security strategy, not just an ideal. - Wilder is aiming at an audience that is questioning whether military power alone is improving U.S. safety.

What happened: - Janessa Gans Wilder launched Peace Is Power, a new podcast focused on peacebuilding and national security. - Wilder is a former CIA officer who spent 21 months in Iraq, including time as the only civilian woman on a base of about 6,000 Marines during one of the war's deadliest periods. - The podcast is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube. - More information is available at the podcast website.

The details: - Wilder says peace is one of the most powerful and underused tools in America's national security toolbox. - Wilder said peace is often mistaken for passivity, but the world's most effective peacebuilders changed history through courage and moral imagination. - Wilder said long-term security depends on relationships, trust, diplomacy and recognizing shared humanity. - The show features guests including Satish Kumar, Ali Abu Awwad, Karim Wasfi, Scilla Elworthy, Ari Honarvar, Shannon Watts and John D. Negroponte. - Kumar, 89, walked 8,000 miles to the nuclear capitals of the world in 1962. - Wasfi conducted the Iraqi National Symphony through years of war in Baghdad. - Negroponte served at the center of American foreign policy for five decades. - Wilder founded Euphrates Institute after her time in Iraq. - Euphrates Institute says it has trained and connected peace leaders in more than 60 countries.

Between the lines: - The podcast is also a response to a broader U.S. retreat from diplomacy and multilateral institutions. - The guest list blends diplomats, artists, activists, veterans and spiritual leaders, signaling an attempt to widen the peace debate beyond policy circles. - The project positions peace not as a soft counterpoint to power, but as a different model of power. - That framing is meant to challenge the idea that force is the default answer to conflict.

What's next: - Wilder is extending Euphrates Institute's peacebuilding work to a mass audience through audio. - The podcast will continue bringing together voices that rarely share a platform. - Wilder is betting that listeners who are frustrated with war and polarization will see peace as a skill worth practicing. - The broader pitch is that peacebuilding can be learned, scaled and applied by ordinary people, not only governments and diplomats.