A World Without War

Sundeep Waslekar starts from an uncomfortable premise: humanity has built the means of its own end. Missiles, advanced weapons and autonomous killer robots now sit alongside a rising tide of nationalism and a growing unwillingness to tolerate difference. In his view, people are more exposed today than at any earlier point. Terrorism, climate change and pandemics might all be survivable, but a global war fought with nuclear weapons would not be.

The danger can feel remote, yet in many countries a single leader, or a handful of them, holds the authority to launch a nuclear strike. Waslekar argues that this concentration of power makes the risk of war very real, and that war on this scale could bring human civilization to a close.

To make his case, he traces the history of war and weaponry, looking at where conflict began, how the tools of killing evolved, and how closely nationalism has been tied to organized violence. His research draws on politics, technology, philosophy and history, but he writes in an accessible, non-academic voice meant for general readers rather than specialists.

Where many books on war stop at analysis, this one goes on to propose a global social contract, a framework intended to lead the world out of the arms race. Waslekar's central claim is that war is a choice, not a fate, and that lasting peace is what would allow people to realize their full potential.