In today’s fractured world, there is an urgent need to rethink the idea of peace and stability.
However, in the 21st century, most philosophers, historians, political scientists, and psychologists argue that the world has become a particularly peaceful place. One such thinker is the American academic, psychologist, cognitive scientist, public intellectual Steven Pinker.
In 2011, he wrote a book called The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined. The book examined the socio-historical, socio-psychological dimensions of human history and argued that human society has undergone a period of marked evolution.
This evolution has been characterized by important events—discovery of fire, writing, and agriculture, among others which set the stage for major historical events—cognitive revolution followed by the agricultural revolution. Owing to successive groundbreaking events in human history, the human race evolved. As a result of this evolution, new institutions emerged and technologies were invented.
The gradual changes in the nature of human societies—from tribal to pastoral, from agricultural to industrial, and from industrial to post-industrial—have played critically important roles in toning down the aggressive psychological disposition of human beings.
Pinker argues that the humanistic revolution in Europe set the stage for the human race’s true development. It not only helped undermine the hold of religion in Europe but also exported this template to the rest of the world, albeit by coercive means.
He went on to highlight how the intensification of trade, commerce, education, and the exportation of Western ideas to various parts of the world contributed to the gradual decline of violence and deaths, culminating in the age of globalization, where the idea of economic and political interdependence has ensured that humanity can enjoy an era of peace that is hitherto unprecedented in human history. He concluded on the note that humanity will continue on this path for the foreseeable future with minor variations.
14 years down the line, it is worth re-examining the core claims of Dr. Pinker.
Peace is Still a Luxury
While the idea of peace has, no doubt, gained universal currency with individuals of all hues and shades—from political leaders to militants claiming that they are working to establish peace and stability by different means—one thing is clear: peace is still a luxury. Let’s analyze this claim using two case studies.
Israel-Hamas war: It began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a series of coordinated surprise provocative strikes inside Israel using rockets and its fighters, resulting in the deaths of more than 1200 people and the abduction of more than 200 hostages. Israel then began its counterattack, followed by one of the most brutal invasions in modern political history. Although a ceasefire was signed on October 9, 2025, resulting in the release of hostages on both sides, the war is far from over. Ceasefire violations, airstrikes, and close-quarters combat continue unabated. The war has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza. It has sparked a humanitarian crisis among Palestinians of gargantuan proportions on one hand and the infrastructure of the enclave—from schools to hospitals, among others. This war has demonstrated how the idea of economic interdependence in a globalized world failed to prevent a crisis of such a scale. It is a reflection of how age old political and social conflicts can instantly override the otherwise compelling logic of economics and prove that interdependence is no guarantee of peace.
The Silent Crisis in Sudan: For almost two and a half years, Sudan has been in the grips of a major civil war. This war has been caused as a result of the competing interests of two major parties: the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Force (RSF), or the paramilitary forces of Sudan. Even though both parties collaborated during the 2019 coup d’état that saw long time ruler Omar Al Bashir’s overthrow, the understanding quickly unraveled, leading to both parties fighting it out to emerge as the supreme player in Sudan’s game of thrones.
But this game of thrones is proving to be very costly for the ordinary people of Sudan. The battle has seen both sides committing gross human rights violations, which, inter alia, include wanton killing of civilians, sexual violence, and—in a sign of an impending disaster—famine. But what is ironic is that, unlike the Israel-Hamas war, the West, which otherwise is so sensitive about ‘human rights’ violations across the world, hasn’t bothered to do something. This is because of the racialized nature of their rights priorities. Sudan is no Israel or Kuwait. It doesn’t possess oil fields or is as technologically advanced as Israel is. Given the fact that Sudan has nothing concrete to provide to the West in terms of human or monetary capital, it is best to ignore them. This conflict demonstrates that the decline in violence is highly local and is contingent on a country’s geopolitical and geo-economic significance. While education and humanism exist, they are selectively applicable.
Carl Jung, a noted Swiss psychiatrist & psychotherapist, in his book Archetypes and the Collective Conscious coined the term ‘archetype’—universal categories that constitute the behavioral pattern of the human mind. In this context, the element of shadow or the negative aspect of personal unconscious—jealousy, hate, greed, contempt, etc.—is what characterizes our behavior in more than one way today.
Therefore, Pinker’s thesis that the world has become a fundamentally peaceful place has essentially become flawed. The fact of the matter is that pursuit of power and gratification of primal desires remain a strong force. The world may hence be looking at the unfolding of a darker psychological reality in the years to come. In order to overcome this, we need a more conscientious world—where peace is seen as a durable idea, not a luxury. For this purpose, a new Global South-centric approach to peace is the need of the hour.
Pranay Kumar Shome, a research analyst who is a PhD candidate at Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar, India
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