Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide

by Joshua S. Goldstein

Overview

Everyone knows: wars are getting worse, more civilians are dying, and peacemaking achieves nothing, right? Wrong.

Despite all the bad-news headlines, peacekeeping is working. Fewer wars are starting, more are ending, and those that remain are smaller and more localized. But peace doesn’t just happen; it needs to be put into effect. Moreover, understanding the global decline in armed conflict is crucial as America shifts to an era of lower military budgets and operations.

Preeminent scholar of international relations, Joshua Goldstein, definitively illustrates how decades of effort by humanitarian aid agencies, popular movements—and especially the United Nations—have made a measureable difference in reducing violence in our times. Goldstein shows how we can continue building on these inspiring achievements to keep winning the war on war.

This updated and revised edition includes more information on a post-9-11 world, and is a perfect compendium for those wishing to learn more about the United States’ armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.   

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101549087
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/15/2011
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
File size:	805 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joshua S. Goldstein is a professor at the School of International Service at American University, winner of the International Studies Association "Book of the Decade" award, among others, and a research scholar at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he lives.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

1 War on the Street Outside: Beirut, 1980 1

2 The Long-Term Trend: A Trip in a Time Machine, 2011 to Prehistoric Times 12

3 Palestine to Congo: The Invention of Peacekeeping, 1947-61 45

4 Angola to Mozambique: Failures and Successes of the Early 1990s 73

5 The Kofi Annan Reforms: Consolidation and Expansion, 1997-2006 109

6 The Sierra Leone Model: Multidimensional Peace Operations, 1998-2011 136

7 The Unarmy: Nonmilitary Forces Supporting Peace 177

8 Peace Movements: If You Want Peace, Work for Peace 203

9 Assessing Progress: Is Peace Increasing since 1945? 229

10 Three Myths: Finding the Truth When Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong 253

11 Wars of the World: The Fires Still Smoldering 275

12 What We Can Do: A New Global Identity 308

Notes 329

References 353

Acknowledgments 373

Index 375

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Winning the War on War reveals the greatest untold story of the past two decades-that contrary to popular impressions, war has become substantially rarer and less dangerous... This book could change the understanding of policy makers, opinion leaders, and a wide readership." -Steven Pinker, professor of psychology, Harvard College; author of the bestseller The Blank Slate

Editorial Reviews

American University professor and international relations expert Goldstein argues that military conflicts are on the retreat globally. Using analysis and statistics, he rebuts the claim that the 20th century was among the bloodiest in human history, that civilian casualties in warfare have been increasing as a proportion of total casualties, along with violence against women, and that the number of wars being fought has been increasing since World War II. Goldstein contends that peace is a worthwhile objective for its own sake, even without other causes, such as social justice or economic reform. Goldstein reviews the history and development of U.N. peace keeping operations from their inception under Ralph Bunche and Count Bernadotte in Palestine, and while surveying the world's ongoing armed struggles, he presents leading peace research institutes (such as the one in Uppsala, Sweden) and researchers (such as the late Randy Forsberg on nuclear weapons). In addition, he reveals the flawed nature of casualty estimates based on epidemiological models that were employed for the Congo and Iraq. The result is an optimistic, if controversial, assessment by a respected anti-war advocate.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly

"Reveals the greatest untold story of the past two decades-that contrary to popular impressions, war has become substantially rarer and less dangerous... This book could change the understanding of policy makers, opinion leaders, and a wide readership."—Steven Pinker, professor of psychology, Harvard College; bestselling author of The Blank Slate

“Does what no other book has attempted, providing a synoptic view, and narrative, of the slow but successful evolution of UN peacekeeping. It takes an unusual and unorthodox approach that works very well indeed.”—Paul Kennedy, professor of history, Yale University; author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

“A novel, highly informative, and exceedingly valuable book.”—David Hamburg, President Emeritus, Carnegie Corporation of New York; former president, AAAS

“A highly readable account of the nature and problems of peacekeeping… an important contribution to public understanding of international affairs.”—Brian Urquhart, former Undersecretary-General of the UN; author of Ralph Bunche: An American Life and Hammarskjöld

“The untold story of how we seem to be winning the long-term fight against war, and why. His book should be required reading for policymakers and the media.”—Nils Petter Gleditsch, Peace Research Institute Oslo

“A surprising study that suggests warfare is decreasing .... Optimistic, useful history of diplomacy as counterweight to brutality.”—Kirkus

“The most important political book of the year.”—Gregg Easterbrook, author of The Progress Paradox

From the Publisher