World Peace Council

The World Peace Council (or "World Council of Peace," or "WPC") is an anti-imperialist, non-aligned international peace movement. As an non-governmental organization (NGO) member of the United Nations, the WPC cooperates with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Labour Organization (ILO) and other UN specialized agencies, special committees and departments. It also cooperates with the Non-Aligned Movement, the African Union, the League of Arab States and other inter-governmental bodies.

History

The World Peace Council (or World Council of Peace) was formed in 1949, replacing the permanent committee of the World Peace Congress, in order to promote peaceful coexistence and nuclear disarmament.

It was involved in many demonstrations and protests from the late 1940s to the late 1980s and attempted to lead the peace movement though it was largely sidelined beginning in the 1960s by the New Left which distrusted the Soviet Union and its supporters in the "old left". The People's Republic of China resigned from the council in 1966 as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, a move that undermined the WPC's credibility among Maoists and their sympathisers who dominated the New Left in many western countries.

In 1971 the World Peace Council contained some 600 people...
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