By: Charlene Aviles, Staff Writer
On September 13, 2021, SFU hosted Andrew Mack Dialogue on “Peace & Security: The Past, Present, and Future of Violence.” The event highlighted “trends in violence” and how violence statistics is not adequate in measuring the effects violence has on people.
According to Bojan Francuz, a program officer at NYU’s Center on International Cooperation, the webinar intends to “challenge us all to think how we can be better at making significant reductions in violence and save lives.”
Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, Dr. Rachel Kleinfeld, said while there has been an increase in civil wars, medical innovation and the shift from large armies to drones reduced battle deaths. Despite the declining rates of violence, she cautioned against relying on statistics alone.
“Violent death numbers don’t count intimidation; they don’t count other forms of death,” Kleinfeld said.
“Our numbers might not be rising to the extent that they were in the mid-20th century, but the effects on our geopolitical system might be just as great,” Kleinfeld said.
Dr. Robert Muggah, co-founder of the Igarapé Institute, a non-profit “think tank” based in Brazil, opened the event with his report on the declining rate of violence. “We’ve actually seen rates of conflict violence decline since the middle of the 20th century,” Muggah said. Muggah noted several initiatives to support this downtrend, such as the United Nations’ treaty against nuclear weapons.
Dr. Dan Smith, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, clarified there are more armed conflicts and a decrease in battle death numbers. Smith said this signals a new form of violence.
Geography professor at the University of Sussex, Dr. Clionadh Raleigh, noted another concerning misconception about violence concentrated in certain regions.
“We really need to break this notion that poor countries have conflict and that somehow increased wealth means less conflict,” Raleigh said.“When we see dramatic shifts in the economic fortunes of state investment or not, what we can find is that some of these exacerbations in that crisis, that competition gets even fiercer.”
According to Smith, peacekeeping must go beyond being anti-violent by incorporating proactive measures, such as protecting women’s rights.
While violence is an ongoing problem, Kleinfeld identified decreasing public acceptance for violence as a reason to be hopeful. Smith offered an alternative perspective. Concerned about the threat of future violence, Smith recommended a cooperative approach to international relations.
For those interested in learning more, the full event can be streamed on YouTube.
