Why Is There Not A DARPA For PEACE?

I was thinking back on my days at DARPA – The Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency – that mighty wing of the US Department of Defense. DARPA’s job is to prevent surprise by trying crazy technological experiments that are high risk but high payoff if they work, the kinds of experiments that don’t make profit-sense for industry to try on their own, but the kind that would change the face of defense if they succeed, and maybe even start some entirely new industries in the process (that’s just a bonus). When new program managers are interviewed, they are asked an iconic question: if you had four years and forty million dollars, what would you do to change the face of defense? It’s an exciting question that beckons you to really push the edge of innovation. So it dawns on me… why is there not a DARPA for PEACE? I hear you, militaries don’t want peace, you say. The military industrial complex would never allow its own irrelevance, you say. And you are, to a large extent, right. I’m not talking about replacing any of that. You see, peace between nations, and peace within nations IS, in fact, good for the US (and everyone else), from economic, educational, technological and several other perspectives. That’s why the DOD (and many other organizations) put so much effort into what they call peacekeeping. This is not a political diatribe, but a point of innovation. What if there was an organization who’s mission was to innovate in creating peace across the globe and at home? What if their mission was to try the high risk high payoff crazy ideas that might just result in less violence and more stability and growth? What if at interviews, you ask prospective program managers: if you had four years and forty million dollars, what would you do to bring peace to humanity? What if you rotate program managers through on those same four year cycles that create urgency and drive their passion for ideas in the peace-making space? What if you involve the world in the solutions? What if you take the ideas that work, and create larger programs to implement them at scale through industrial and governmental partners? What could we accomplish? What kind of world might we see emerge from such an effort? Just an idea.