[1][2] Inaugurated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, on October 7, 2000,[3] the GCWP was originally conceived as "a country without borders for peace-loving people everywhere.

According to a report from Bloomberg, the GCWP's tax filings describe its mission as the creation of world peace 'by unifying all nations in happiness prosperity, invincibility, and perfect health'.

The currency has been used in Iowa and has been also given approval in The Netherlands where more than 100 Dutch shops, department store chains, in 30 villages and cities, are using the notes at a fixed rate of 10 euros per raam.

[10][13] CATO Institute currency expert James Dorn expressed doubt about the viability of the plan, suggesting that other economic approaches would be a better way to establish a network of collective farms.

[15][16] According to Maharishi Global Financing, agreements were made in 2004 with a farmers' association in South America and with traditional leaders in Africa to start using the Raam for agricultural development projects.

[18] Architecture professor Keller Easterling says that Maharishi Vedic City reflects the GCWP's interest in achieving a "benign form of global sovereignty".

Nine pastors wrote to the local newspaper with concerns about the souls of area residents while the Chamber of Commerce looked forward to the creation of new jobs.

The buildings, being built according to Vedic guidelines[citation needed], were planned to be two-story, white, buildings of about 10,000 to 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) and are intended to be replacements for rented spaces being used in "more than 200 locations" across the U.S.A. Their appearance has been described as an "Indian temple crossed with a Southern plantation mansion" and is intended to be a "visual brand" for the organization.

[32] Peace Palaces have been completed in the U.S. cities of Bethesda, Maryland, Houston and Austin, Texas, Fairfield, Iowa, St. Paul, Minnesota and Lexington, Kentucky.

[44][45] In November 2000, the GCWP made a proposal to the President of Suriname, offering $1.3 billion over three years for a 200-year lease of 3,500 acres (14 km2) of rural land plus "1 percent of the money the sovereign state's central bank puts into circulation" and the creation of 10,000 jobs.

[45][46] The UNHCR reported that, in July 2001, the island nation of Tuvalu rejected, after serious consideration, a proposal from the GCWP to create a "Vatican like sovereign city-state" near the international airport in exchange for a payment of $2 million per year.

[50] Regional leaders[51] and 'leading Transcendental Meditators "trained as TM teachers and graduates of the TM-Sidhi program[52] are called "Governors of the Age of Enlightenment".

[61] Since then the organization has also been administrated by the "high-functioning intellectual elite in its upper echelons," such as Bevan Morris, Maureen Wynne, and Willy Koppel,[62] while retaining Nader as the central leader.

[51] The GCWP, according to its website, has a “ministry” consisting of ministers split into twelve departments: Law and Order, Education, Health, Architecture, Trade and Commerce, Defence, Science and Technology, Communication, Religion and Culture, Administration, and Finance and Planning.