Prescriptions for Peace: Policy Implications of Cross-Cultural Research on War and Interpersonal Violence

War is more likely when people have a history of unpredictable disasters that destroy food supplies. People often go to war to take resources that would cushion them against future scarcity. The risk of war might be reduced, therefore, if people could be assured that the world would share with those who suffer disasters. In addition, a more democratic world might mean a more peaceful world. The robust relationship between democracy and peace suggests that it is counterproductive to support any undemocratic regimes. Finally, higher rates of homicide, in the ethnographic as well as cross-national records, are predicted by more war. Because more war seems to favor socialization for aggression, it seems that if the world is to be rid of violence, people may first have to rid the world of war.