Freedom From War – State Dept. Publication 7277

September 25, 1961. At the United Nations, President John F. Kennedy’s administration unveiled a plan unlike any in American history. Later issued as Freedom From War: The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World (State Dept. Publication 7277), the document called for the staged dismantling of national armed forces and the transfer of military power into the hands of a UN “Peace Force.”

The introduction strikes a dramatic tone: modern weapons and ideological conflict, it warned, had created “a crisis in human history.” The only solution — according to the plan — was immediate disarmament, strict international inspection, and the creation of a peace-keeping authority strong enough to guarantee compliance. The program envisioned three stages: first, scaling back military capability; second, enforcing reductions with global oversight; and finally, outlawing national militaries altogether except for police units and small contingents assigned to the UN.

The details are stark. Publication 7277 explicitly demanded the “disbanding of all national armed forces” and the “elimination from national arsenals of all armaments” except those needed for UN operations and domestic order. Once implemented, “no state would have the military power to challenge the progressively strengthened UN Peace Force.” In short, sovereignty would yield to international authority.

For students of history, policy, and globalism, this text is indispensable. It is not a secondhand account, nor an interpretation, but the verbatim blueprint of a U.S. plan to end war by ending independent military power. At a time when questions of disarmament and global control resurface in new forms, this primary source deserves renewed attention. (State Department Document, 1961)