Mans Capacity For Peace

This book analyzes Leo Strauss's writings on political violence, considering also what he taught in the classroom on this subject.

A profoundly heartening view of human nature, Beyond War offers a hopeful prognosis for a future without war. Douglas P. Fry convincingly argues that our ancient ancestors were not innately warlike--and neither are we. He points out that, for perhaps ninety-nine percent of our history, for well over a million years, humans lived in nomadic hunter-and-gatherer groups, egalitarian bands where warfare was a rarity. Drawing on archaeology and fascinating recent fieldwork on hunter-gatherer bands from around the world, Fry debunks the idea that war is ancient and inevitable. For instance, among Aboriginal Australians, warfare was an extreme anomaly. Fry also points out that even today, when war seems ever present, the vast majority of us live peaceful, nonviolent lives. We are not as warlike as we think, and if we can learn from our ancestors, we may be able to move beyond war to provide real justice and security for the world.

Peace, this is what we all wish for but rarely experience. In Man's Search For Peace, you will learn what holds us back and what will move us forward in our experience of Peace.

Through a comparative analysis of six case studies, this volume illustrates key conflict-resolution techniques for peacebuilding. Outside parties learn how to facilitate cooperation by engaging local leaders in intensive, interactive workshops. These opposing leaders reside in small, ethnically divided countries, including Burundi, Cyprus, Estonia, Guyana, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan, that have experienced communal conflicts in recent years. In Estonia and Guyana, peacebuilding initiatives sought to ward off violence. In Burundi and Sri Lanka, initiatives focused on ending ongoing hostilities, and in Cyprus and Tajikistan, these efforts brought peace to the country after its violence had ended. The contributors follow a systematic assessment framework, including a common set of questions for interviewing participants to prepare comparable results from a set of diverse cases. Their findings weigh the successes and failures of this particular approach to conflict resolution and draw conclusions about the conditions under which such interactive approaches work, as well as assess the audience and the methodologies used. This work features research conducted in conjunction with the Working Group on Preventing and Rebuilding Failed States, convened by the Wilson Center's Project on Leadership and Building State Capacity.

John Dear, SJ, believes that social activism and faith are inseparable. Acting in the name of the nonviolent Jesus, Dear has been arrested more than seventy-five times, has spent more than a year of his life in jail, and has been mocked by armed U.S. soldiers standing outside the doors to his New Mexico parish. A Persistent Peace, John Dear's autobiography, invites readers to follow the decades-long journey of social activism and spiritual growth of this nationally known peace activist and to witness his bold, decisive, often unpopular actions on behalf of peace. From his conversion to Christianity, to his calling to become a Jesuit, to the extreme dangers and delights of a life dedicated to truly living out the radical, forgiving love of Jesus, John's incredible story of social activism will touch anyone who believes in the power of peace.