Believe it – the world is getting safer

According to a new report by the Vancouver-based Human Security Centre, the world is becoming a safer place. Some highlights:

• "In terms of battle-deaths, the 1990s was the least violent decade since the end of World War II. By the beginning of the 21st century, the probability of any country being embroiled in an armed conflict was lower than at any time since the early 1950s."
• Notwithstanding the Balkans and Rwanda, "Genocides have declined remarkably since the end of the Cold War."
• Although international terrorism "remains a critically important human security issue," "in terms of numbers killed, [it] poses far less of a threat than do other forms of political violence or violent crime."

The Centre summarizes its report as follows:

The first Human Security Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. Published by Oxford University Press, the Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War.

So cheer up, folks. The glass is half full after all.