A world without war: this is the vision that Douglas Roche has pursued for decades. A long-time Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament, Canadian ambassador for disarmament, and later a senator, Roche has been in the thick of international affairs for more than forty years.

Though few of us realize it, today the world is more peaceful than in past centuries. Death and destruction due to war have diminished dramatically in the past two decades. This is no accident -- it is the cumulative result of the work of the world's peacemakers. Sometimes in public, often behind the scenes, talented high achievers are waging a campaign for peace that is in ascendance over the warlike intentions of the arms industry, military generals, and aggressive government leaders.

Neither Roche nor the peacemakers shy away from the thorniest issues the world faces -- including the threat posed by nuclear weapons, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and multiple threats of genocidal violence.

Roche shows how new ideas like the responsibility to protect innocent civilians from genocide or armed attack by their own government, and new institutions like the International Criminal Court are moving the world along the path to the end of war.

To tell this story, Roche profiles some leading peacemakers of our time and the work they are doing, and also interviews keen observers of world politics who offer informed commentary on the work of the peacemakers. You will meet former prime ministers and foreign ministers, senior UN officials, religious figures, women's organization leaders and activists. Few are household names. Roche documents the many successes of the past two decades in reducing conflict in the world, and in creating structures and institutions which are making war less likely and more difficult for states to initiate.

With a Resources section of websites, books and films.

DOUGLAS ROCHE was Canada's Ambassador for Disarmament to the UN from 1984 to 1989, serving as Chairman of the UN Disarmament Committee in 1988. He is an author, parliamentarian, and diplomat, who has specialized throughout his forty-year public career in peace and human security issues. He lectures widely on peace and nuclear disarmament themes. Roche is the author of twenty-one books, including How We Stopped Loving The Bomb and The Human Right to Peace. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He lives in Edmonton.

Douglas Roche's Website

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"A passionate, important read. Douglas Roche is a knowledgeable, long-standing expert in the fight for peace and to save the planet from weapons of mass destruction."

Michael Douglas, Actor, Producer and United Nations Messenger of Peace