Now just hold on there a minute, Pilgrim
"And now the good news: there are fewer wars than there used to be, and they are becoming less deadly; the casualties from terrorist acts are minimal and do not warrant the current widespread concern among the public, and even acts of genocide are becoming less common.
"These are the findings of a report into global trends in political violence, written by an Australian, Andrew Mack, who is the director of the Human Security Centre in Vancouver. He was previously the head of international relations at ANU.
"The report suggests the end of the Cold War has brought more benefits than are commonly acknowledged. The most severe conflicts - those with more than 1000 casualties a year - declined by 80 per cent during the 1990s.
Professor Mack said the centre's report, War and Peace in the 21st Century, was the first substantial academic attempt to compile the extent and trends of violent conflicts. The idea arose when he worked in the strategic planning unit in the executive office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. He was surprised that the office had no access to reliable data on trends in political violence.
"Without that information, he said, the UN, governments and other agencies could not know whether their efforts to maintain and promote peace were working. He said that although the decline in conflict had been acknowledged by some academics, it was not widely known among policy makers or the public.
"The media put new conflicts on the front pages, he said, but tended to bury or ignore conflicts that were resolved.
"US State Department data showed a fall in the number of terrorist attacks, he said. But while minor attacks had fallen, the number of high-casualty attacks had risen sharply. "But even saying that, if we are looking at international terrorism, and I stress the international part, the reality is that it still kills trivially small numbers of people compared to the numbers killed in war."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/thirst-for-blood-falls-worldwide/2005/10/17/1129401197193.html
"These are the findings of a report into global trends in political violence, written by an Australian, Andrew Mack, who is the director of the Human Security Centre in Vancouver. He was previously the head of international relations at ANU.
"The report suggests the end of the Cold War has brought more benefits than are commonly acknowledged. The most severe conflicts - those with more than 1000 casualties a year - declined by 80 per cent during the 1990s.
Professor Mack said the centre's report, War and Peace in the 21st Century, was the first substantial academic attempt to compile the extent and trends of violent conflicts. The idea arose when he worked in the strategic planning unit in the executive office of the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. He was surprised that the office had no access to reliable data on trends in political violence.
"Without that information, he said, the UN, governments and other agencies could not know whether their efforts to maintain and promote peace were working. He said that although the decline in conflict had been acknowledged by some academics, it was not widely known among policy makers or the public.
"The media put new conflicts on the front pages, he said, but tended to bury or ignore conflicts that were resolved.
"US State Department data showed a fall in the number of terrorist attacks, he said. But while minor attacks had fallen, the number of high-casualty attacks had risen sharply. "But even saying that, if we are looking at international terrorism, and I stress the international part, the reality is that it still kills trivially small numbers of people compared to the numbers killed in war."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/thirst-for-blood-falls-worldwide/2005/10/17/1129401197193.html
posted by Guambat Stew at Tuesday, October 18, 2005
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