edited by Geir Lundestad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Norway) & Olav Njølstad (The Norwegian Nobel Institute, Norway)

At the turn of the 21st Century, the world was immediately gripped by the War on Terrorism followed by the Iraq War. In reflection, the 20th Century was a period marked by tremendous technological and economic progress — but it was also the most violent century in human history. It witnessed two horrendous world wars, as well as the conflicts during the Cold War.

Why do wars persistently erupt among nations, particularly the Great Powers? What are the primary factors that drive nations to violence — power, prestige, ideology or territory? Or is it motivated by pure fear and mistrust? Peering nervously at the 21st Century, we wonder whether American supremacy and globalization will help ensure peace and stability. Or will shifts in power with the emergence of new economic super-nations lead to further tensions and conflicts in this century?

Together with 29 Peace Nobel laureates, an outstanding group of scholars gathered in Oslo, Norway, on December 6, 2001, for the three-day Nobel Centennial Symposium to discuss “The Conflicts of the 20th Century and the Solutions for the 21st Century”. Read this book for the scholars' candid insights and analyses, as well as their thought-provoking views on the factors that led to conflicts in the 20th Century and whether the 21st Century will be a more peaceful one. This is a rare — and possibly the best and only — book compilation of the highly intellectual analyses by world experts and Nobel Peace laureates on the perennial issues of War & Peace.

• Introduction: The Conflicts of the 20th Century and the Solutions for the 21st Century, Geir Lundestad & Olav Njølstad, The Norwegian Nobel Institute
• Dialogue and Cooperation to Achieve World Peace, Dae-Jung Kim, ex-President, The Republic of Korea
• War and Peace in the 20th Century, Eric Hobsbawm, Birkbeck College, University of London
• Ideologies and Polities: Liberal Democracy and National Dictatorship in Peace and, War Michael W Doyle, Princeton University
• Making Sense of Political Violence in Postcolonial Africa, Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University
• Global Inequality and Persistent Conflicts, Amartya Sen, University of Cambridge (UK), and the 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences
• The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Joseph S Nye, Harvard University
• Beyond Militarism, Arms Races and Arms Control, Mary H Kaldor, London School of Economics
• Rivalry over Territory and Resources and the Balance of Peace and War: The 20th Century, Louise Fawcett, St Catherine's College, Oxford University
• Misperception, Mistrust, Fear, Akira Iriye, Harvard University
• The Nobel Peace Prize in Its Next Century: Old and New Dimensions, Geir Lundestad, The Norwegian Nobel Institute