CAN we give up war? Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau contended in the 18th-century that humans, in their 鈥渘atural鈥� state, lived peaceful lives and were a 鈥渟tranger to war鈥�. His view prevailed for much of the 20th century.
But a growing body of grisly archaeological evidence suggests Rousseau was wrong. Rather, as Thomas Hobbes put it in the 17th century: 鈥渢he life of man was nasty, brutish and short.鈥� Going by the bones, 10 to 20 per cent of people in the late Stone Age met their end at the hands of others.
A lot hinges on that estimate. Commentators like Steven Pinker contend that, despite modern hand-wringing, violence has become much less common: the comparable figure for homicide today would be 鈥渏ust鈥� 0.7 per cent.
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Now historian Ian Morris suggests that over the sweep of history, 鈥渨ar made states, and states made peace鈥� (see 鈥�What鈥檚 war good for? It鈥檚 made a more peaceful world鈥�). This is a startling contention 鈥� even Morris says he was initially taken aback by his findings. But assume that he has, at a minimum, identified an important trend in humanity鈥檚 march to civilisation. Does that mean pacifism not only runs against our nature, but against our self interest, too?
Not necessarily. One view is that the chain of global conflicts of the 20th century shaped an interconnected world in which war is increasingly unthinkable. The threat of mutually assured destruction 鈥� military or economic 鈥� has kept the peace in many places. So the forlorn hope that those wars represented 鈥渨ar to end all wars鈥� may yet prove correct.
But there鈥檚 a precedent to beware. The growing peace of early Eurasian empires was disturbed, says Morris, by marauders from the Asian steppes, whose new form of warfare set global pacification back for a thousand years. Asymmetric war waged by drones, hackers and suicide bombers might prove similarly disruptive.
鈥淎symmetric war 鈥� waged by drones, hackers and suicide bombers 鈥� may disrupt global pacification鈥�
If we let it. Group violence is common among social animals, from chimpanzees to ants. But we humans are perhaps uniquely capable of shunning it. Peace on earth may be in reach yet.