The money spent on the peacebuilding industry is perhaps 1/10 of 1% of the amount of money spent on the war-making industry. The peacebuilding industry is made up of hundreds or perhaps thousands of organizations acting independently, with almost no coordination. In the absence of any hard evidence about which kinds of activities are most cost effective, the efforts of the peacebuilding industry are scattered over a great many different approaches, some of which are ineffective. While a significant amount of the money spent on peacebuilding is devoted to competing for available resources, there is no organized effort to increase the resources available for promoting peace overall.
In light of these facts, it is not surprising that in addition to the number killed, about 100 million living people are suffering acutely as a result of warfare, and that in recent years the number of wars and battle deaths have been growing. I am working to stimulate thinking and new ideas about how we can make more significant impact in reducing the extent of armed conflict in the world.
A brief study of what stopped the fighting in the wars that ended in the last quarter-century (see below) indicates that victory by one side or the other was much more important than any of the approaches by peace makers.
A summary of those wars that came to an end in the last 25 years, prepared by Elliot Short at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK