The Decline of War and Conceptions of Human Nature
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https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12031Metadata
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Pinker, Steven. 2013. The Decline of War and Conceptions of Human Nature. International Studies Review 15, no. 3: 400-405.Abstract
Many observers are skeptical of the evidence that war has declined, because they think that a decline in war requires an unrealistic, romantic theory of human nature. In fact it is compatible with a hardheaded view of human violent inclinations which is firmly rooted in evolutionary biology. Homo sapiens evolved with violent tendencies, but they are triggered by particular circumstances; they are not a hydraulic urge that must periodically be discharged. And though our species evolved with motives that can erupt in violence, it also evolved motives that can inhibit violence, including self-control, empathy, a sense of fairness, and open-ended cognitive mechanisms that can devise technologies for reducing violence.Other Sources
http://stevenpinker.com/files/pinker/files/pinker_international_studies_review_the_decline_of_war.pdfhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/misr.12031/full#misr12031-sec-0009
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