United Nations - Study: Fewer wars, less deadly

Not surprising to those of us who follow such things, but a shocker to those who rely on traditional media for their news. You can read about the report here.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A study issued paints a surprising picture of war and peace in the 21st century: Armed conflicts have declined by more than 40 percent since 1992, and genocide and human rights abuses have plummeted around the world.

The only form of political violence that appears to be getting worse is terrorism -- a serious threat but one that kills markedly fewer people than open warfare, it said.

The first Human Security Report, financed by five governments, said the end of the Cold War and breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989-91 was the most important factor in the decline in armed conflicts: It ended the East-West ideological battle, stopped the flow of money to proxy wars in the developing world, and most importantly allowed the United Nations for the first time to begin to play the role its founders intended.

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Armed conflicts have not only declined by more than 40 percent since 1992, but the deadliest conflicts with over 1,000 battle deaths dropped even more dramatically -- by 80 percent. The number of international crises, often harbingers of war, fell by more than 70 percent between 1981 and 2001, the report said.

And who is largely responsible for this outbreak of peace? America.
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