ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´

WE live in a brutal world, and 11 September reminded us that no one is immune. Even as you read this, people are dying in at least 25 major conflicts, most of them in the poorest countries of Africa and Asia. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, 2.5 million people have been killed since 1998. That’s thousands of people a day.

Two weeks ago, New ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ described how the achievements of science and technology paved the way for globalisation. Cheap computers, telecommunications and transport combined with the opening up of markets to create a boom in world trade and economic growth. But not everyone has benefited. The rich have mostly got richer while the poor have stood still at best. Now it’s time to look at what happens when things go really wrong: when the pressures of inequality, poverty and oppression drive people to violence and war.

Can science tell us anything about the nature of such conflicts? Can it help us understand why people resort to revenge? Why some individuals are ready to kill others indiscriminately, and even themselves? It is easy to dismiss suicide bombers as mere fanatics, whose actions are mad and incomprehensible. Is that all there is to it?

We begin this issue with the controversial proposition that biology can help us make some sense of these extreme actions. Self-sacrifice can be found throughout the living world. So it’s hardly surprising, argues Colin Tudge, that some people are prepared to sacrifice even their own lives for what they perceive as a higher cause.

We then visit a place where all the pressures exist to drive people to these extremes: Israel and the Palestinian Territories. We hear from people on both sides how conflict shapes their lives: what it’s like to live in constant fear, and how people on each side feel justified in the violence they inflict upon the other.

But inequality and oppression are not the whole picture. Where people are in conflict, there is often another factor in play—one that is normally far beyond the remit of this magazine. That factor is religion, and no study on war would be complete without it. But how exactly does religion dictate people’s behaviour in these situations? We asked leading figures from major faiths whether religious differences are bound to lead to unrest. The answers may surprise you.

Natural born killers  36

This is how we live  40

All for the love of God  46