World War Three Is Coming

Nonsense. If you watch TV or read the papers you'd think world conflict is just around the corner and everyone is fighting everyone. Not true.

Last year a carefully researched Human Security Report concluded that the numbers of armed conflicts in the world had fallen 40% in little over a decade, and that the number of fatalities per conflict had also fallen.

The entire news agenda for a decade, received as endless tales of wars, massacres and bombings, actually missed the key point. Things are getting better.

Percentage of males estimated to have died in violence in hunter-gatherer societies was about 30%. Percentage of males who died in violence in the 20th century (including two world wars and a couple of nuclear bombs was approximately 1%.

The trends for violent deaths so far in the 21st century ae falling sharply too. Let's hope it stays that way.

TH