Fear & Loathing
‘IS the world a more dangerous place since America and her allies attacked Iraq?
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The world is a safer place without him around |
We fear so. But the Telegraph has seen the Human Security Report, produced by academics led by Andrew Mack, of the University of British Columbia, and says that our fears are ungrounded.
Mack says that neither of the popular claims of an increased threat from terrorism and that war is becoming more common and deadlier are true.
The world is a safer place that it was ten years ago. In 1950 each conflict killed, on average, 38,000 people. By 2002 the figure had dropped to 600.
In 1992 there were 51 state-based conflicts around the world. In 2003 the figure had dropped to 29.
But this does not mean we are on the way to a war-free planet. As Mack explains: The risk of new wars breaking out or old ones resuming is very real in the absence of a sustained and strengthened commitment to conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building.
Those are sobering words – especially when we read in the Times that the trial of Saddam Hussein begins today…’
Posted: 19th, October 2005 | In: Uncategorized Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
