Globalization has middle class growing, wars shrinking
The "Human Security Brief 2007," compiled by Canada's Simon Fraser University, details the continuing overall decline in global conflict that began with globalization's rapid expansion around the planet in recent years, to include the complete absence of classic state-on-state war since 2003.
As a result, total deaths from conflicts are now lower than the world has ever seen. For anyone looking for a "new world order" after the Cold War, this is it: far fewer wars and much less death from them.
Better yet, when Iraq's bloody civil war is factored out of the equation, deaths from terrorism have declined globally since 9/11 by roughly 40 percent.
Hold Bush-Cheney accountable for botching the occupation and unleashing that violence, but make no mistake, while the sectarian strife briefly fueled al-Qaida's "cause celebre," toppling Saddam did not trigger an upsurge in global terrorism. That long war hasn't made the world more dangerous in the long run.
According to the brief's data, intrastate wars kill — on average — far fewer people than interstate wars, even when they are internationalized. Since 1950, the average interstate war killed approximately 35,000 people, while the average intrastate conflict killed less than 3,000, jumping to almost 9,000 when conflicts spilled across borders and/or outsiders intervened.
And no, that's not just a result of the death of superpower rivalry, but rather a series of signals that America has sent the global community since 1990 through our leadership of international coalitions to address regional crisis situations — Iraq included. The more willing we are to move "down" the conflict spectrum from big wars to civil strife, the more safe we make the world by signaling our commitment to its system management. That doesn't mean America must take on all crises, just that we're trying — in conjunction with other great powers — to push "down" the very definition of crisis over time to lower thresholds.
The third statistic worth noting is the profound decrease in civil strife in Africa over the past few years. This is clearly tied to globalization's rapid spread, as rising Asia's huge up-tick in demand for natural resources has benefited Africa plenty, to include a substantial flow of foreign direct investment designed to pull African economics into globalization's network chains of supply and production.
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Roland Kayser: You used most of earth's resources. This gave...
Anonymous | July 19, 2008 at 2:32 p.m.
I'm not sure why you think my post relates to a one world government...
Roland Kayser | July 19, 2008 at 10:34 a.m.
It is time for a one world government, but who will head it up, maybe...
Roland | July 19, 2008 at 7:26 a.m.
