This core textbook comprehensively introduces students to the relatively young interdisciplinary field of peace and conflict studies. This field is unabashedly value-oriented, and although the authors are up front about their own values and opinions, they attempt to present all sides of complex debates to assist students in forming personal and social opinions, insisting only that those opinions be informed by serious intellectual effort. A hallmark of the book is an effort to encourage independent and critical thinking among student readers. CONTENTS: I. THE PROMISE OF PEACE, THE PROBLEM OF WAR / 1. The Meanings of Peace / 2. Peace Movements / 3. The Meanings of War / 4. The Special Significance of Nuclear Weapons / II. THE REASONS FOR WARS / 5. The Individual Level / 6. The Group Level / 7. The State Level / 8. The Decision-Making Level / 9. The Ideological, Social, and Economic Levels / III. BUILDING "NEGATIVE PEACE" / 10. Diplomacy, Negotiations, and Conflict Resolution / 11. Peace Through Strength? / 12. Disarmament and Arms Control / 13. International Organizations / 14. International Law / 15. World Government / 16. Ethical and Religious Perspectives / IV. BUILDING "POSITIVE PEACE" / 17. Human Rights / 18. Ecological Wholeness / 19. Economic Well-Being / 20. Nonviolence / 21. Toward the Future