We can hardly expect to quell them, to grow out of their destructive behaviors, in the foreseeable future. Amid the many national, ethnic, and historical pretexts for warfare that carry over into the new Millennium, I see two systemic risks that must be addressed with special urgency the nuclear threat, and gross inequality in our economic processes. Although the Cold War is over, we are not out from under the pall of the mushroom cloud. Nuclear explosions in India and Pakistan along with the rejection of the Test Ban Treaty by the US Senate are vivid reminders that the danger level is rising again. Thousands of war-heads remain dangerously armed.
More governments seek to possess nuclear weapons.
A brash new generation of political leaders seems to remember none of the lessons and cautions so painfully learned in the early years of the nuclear era. The second risk factor is more complex and pervasive, but no less dangerous or destabilizing over the long haul. Economic systems must bring adequate benefit to the majority and not shower riches upon the few or else massive upheavals and dire conflict are inevitable. People will labor long and endure hardship if they believe that they have a fair chance to share in the benefits of the economy. Conversely, sooner or later they will rise up in anger and desparation if they feel excluded and exploited.