Disarming Conflict: Why Peace Cannot Be Won on the Battlefield

Wars fought over the past quarter century have been a spectacular failure. The overwhelming majority end in military stalemate and are settled at the negotiating table, with the grievances that led to the war still unresolved. In Disarming Conflict famed peace activist Ernie Regehr shows that force cannot simply override or transcend the social, political, and economic realities of conflict. War prevention, Regehr argues, is more successful when security policies address the conditions that most directly affect people’s lives and that are most instrumental in generating deep grievances and the despairing conclusion that there are no alternatives to the violence. Disarming Conflict sets out approaches, initiatives, and policies that steer away from the futility of fighting and promote non-military efforts towards “winning the peace.”