Is War on the Way Out? - Institute of Politics at Harvard [View all]

[Douglas Carpenter]

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Joshua Goldstein, author of "Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide," and Steven Pinker, author of "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined," discuss the meaning and implications of their latest releases with HKS professors Monica Toft (author of "God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics&quot and Stephen Walt. Both Goldstein and Pinker, from distinct vantage points, argue for the counterintuitive notion that violence, among both individuals and states, is on a downward trajectory. Both the supporting data and reasoning behind this positive shift is hotly debated. Professor Joseph Nye moderates the discussion.

Date: Jan 30, 2012


A non-utopian discussion based on hard data - asking the questions about the relative decline in violence worldwide. I first got interested in this subject upon reading a incredible book that challenges all my previous assumptions - The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence has declined - by Harvard psychology professor and historian - Steven Pinker

http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Better_Angels_of_Our_Nature.html?id=J7ATQb6LZX0C

I posted another video a few days ago featuring a presentation by Dr Pinker:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101749549

I am beginning to feel disturbingly optimistic about the future of the world This is a new experience for me and very scary.

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