What’s the Evidence?

The fall of the Berlin Wall

The power of peace-creating groups to decrease warfare and terrorism has been tested repeatedly. The results produced by temporary peace-creating groups (lasting weeks or months) have been consistently positive—with nearly immediate reductions in war deaths averaging better than 70%. In addition, the one peace-creating assembly that lasted for several years was accompanied by a history-transforming wave of peace around the world. Most of these studies have been carefully scrutinized by independent scholars, and then accepted for publication in mainstream academic journals. Here are a few of them.

Reduced warfare in Lebanon: During days of high attendance at a group of peace-creating experts in Jerusalem, war deaths in neighbouring Lebanon decreased by 76%. Increases in attendance at the peace-creating group also correlated strongly with reduced crime, traffic accidents, and fires, and with improved economic indicators.

Replication on warfare in Lebanon: During seven different peace-creating assemblies—in a two-year study of the nearly continuous fighting in Lebanon during the mid-1980s—war deaths decreased by an average of 71%. Some of these assemblies were large (7-8,000 peace-creating experts) and distant (as far away as Fairfield, Iowa, USA)—indicating that the peace-creating effect can radiate worldwide.

Reduced worldwide terrorism: During the three largest peace-creating assemblies ever held in the West, statistics provided by the Rand Corporation showed a 72% reduction in worldwide terrorism.

Wave of global peace: During the one large peace-creating assembly (8,000 experts) that continued for several years (1988-90), major conflicts in the world all came to an end—including the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a seven-year war between Iran and Iraq that had killed millions, and, most notably and unexpectedly, the Soviet-American Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation for forty years.

Scientific acceptance: Time after time, independent scholars have judged this research to be sound. These scholars have been impressed because the findings have been often repeated, based on open public data that other researchers can check, with strong correlations between peace-creating attendance and reduced social violence, lead-lag analysis supporting a causal interpretation, and alternate possible explanations ruled out.