BOOK REVIEW–How Not To Go To War. Establishing Departments for Peace and Peace Center's Worldwide

Abstract

The book sets the present, dangerous warfare scene throughout the world with more than 20 wars going on, a soaring military expenditure to a record high $1.7 trillion in 2017 or about one thousand dollars per family globally, with the prospects of further deterioration with the threat of nuclear war hanging in the air. That is done in a very detailed and considerate manner, and Mehta is concerned. Destruction-oriented heads of state mark the present leadership in the world in some countries and a world leader that is withdrawing from international cooperation and setting into further motion decreasing multilateralism, while the United Nations is not living up to its task of protecting people from the scourge of war, according to Mehta. Something needs to be done to remedy the situation, and that is to institutionalize peace from the government level to the local level of the society in all countries, throughout the world. The book argues that institutions of war must be matched by institutions of peace to give peace a chance to settle permanently in society and that military costs should be turned into support for peace and social welfare programs, befitting the entire population.