Scotland has a history of peacemaking. Green MSPs would aim to position Scotland as a global peace hub, building on the country’s reputation as a location for negotiations such as the Edinburgh Conversations, which contributed to reducing East-West tensions during the Cold War, or the peace talks in Craigellachie aimed at resolving conflict in the Caucasus.

We need to build a peace industry. We would support establishing a Scottish peace centre tasked with researching conflict issues and developing best practice for nonviolent conflict prevention and resolution. The peace academy could promote Scotland as a host for international negotiations and summits on conflict prevention, non-proliferation and debt arbitration; and engage with international academic and peacebuilding institutions such as the UN’s University for Peace.

We need to curb the arms industry. Green MSPs would support measures to curtail the global arms trade by cutting Scottish Enterprise or Scottish Development International support to enterprises involved in arms sales to human rights abusers. We would encourage pension funds to divest away from these enterprises and we would push for a Just Transition Fund to help defence sector workers retrain for careers in other areas such as renewables or transportation.

A nuclear-free Scotland. Scotland’s opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons system is well-established and we are proud to be at the forefront of efforts to disband this obscene Cold War relic. We would pursue every possible avenue to pressure Westminster into getting rid of the nuclear weapons stored on the Clyde. We would explore options such as: issuing guidance to Police Scotland not to enforce charges against nonviolent activists involved in protests against the Faslane base and shipments of nuclear weapons on Scottish roads; amending the Marine Scotland Act to include a ban on the movement of nuclear weapons through Scottish waters; and ending government support for businesses involved in the supply chain for Trident.

A nuclear-free world. The Scottish Green Party will continue to support nuclear disarmament on an international scale and Green MSPs would seek observer status for Scotland in organisations such as the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative or the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs. We will actively campaign for the establishment of nuclear weapon free zones in Europe and the Middle East.