STST1001 Notes Week 1: Introduction to International Security Studies - Changes Between Today's Security & Previous Eras Reading: Taming the Devil Within Us (Pinker) Decline in Violence . As world becomes smarter > it becomes more peaceful . 20th Century was the bloodiest = widely believed illusion o Due to complete historical records & vivid memories o Ancient histories filled w/ genocide & war crimes . w/ death tolls comparable to the world wars . Since 1950 > trend of avoiding wars o Far fewer deaths in first 10 years of 21st century than 1950-2000 o European homicide rates declined by 30x since Middle Ages . 40 per 100,000 ppl in 14th century > 1.3 per 100,000 at end of 20th century · Abolition of barbaric customs o e.g. human sacrifice, punitive torture & executions · Since 1950 > rise of rights o e.g. women, LGBTQI Why? Increasing engagement of human mind components that inhibit violence: · Reason (primarily) Exchange of ideas thru language > fostering understanding & negotiation of social arrangements o Voltaire's quip: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities" o Debunking of unjustified beliefs undermines many rationales for violence o Can lead people to desire less violence o Can allow us to lay out a roadmap to tolerance or persecution · Empathy . Not really morality o As it furnishes people w/ motives for violent acts (eg. religious wars) 2 Conditions Aligning Reason w/ Nonviolence . Reasoners care about their own wellbeing > life over death, comfort over pain · Reasoners live amongst a community which can: o a) Impinge on their wellbeing b) Comprehend their reasoning Why Only Nonviolence Now?
· Humans were not created as reasoners > we evolved from ape-like primates > where our cognitive processes & socialising gradually developed · Humans are progressively getting smarter due to abstract reasoning An average teenager today would have had an IQ of 130 in 1910 yet a teenager then would presently have an IQ of 70 o Morality is driven by parts of prefrontal cortex that underly emotion & abstract thought . People w/ greater reasoning abilities commit fewer violent crimes · Societies w/ higher levels of educational & intellectual achievement > more receptive to democracy > lower rates of civil war Reading: Stephen Pinker and the long peace: alliance, deterrence and decline (Freedman) . By 2050 - The proportion of countries in conflict will decline to 1/2 the current rate Many Factors Contributing to Declinist Peace . Freedman critiques Pinker's explanations for Long Peace (the absence of a great power war other than Korea) since 1945 · Pinker addresses the general quality of being war prone o Rather than the circumstances which turn crises into war & the security policies appropriate to these circumstances · o Cold War o End of European Empires 1945 onwards - 2 great interconnected geopolitical phenomena: · Pinker fails to engage w/ geopolitical aspects in Cold War, like: o As colonies gained their independence Role