Myth and Reality in International Politics: Meeting Global Challenges through Collective Action : Routledge : 9781612055671 : 1612055672 : 11 Sep 2015 : Recent generations have experienced dramatic improvements in the quality of human life across the globe. Wars between states are fought less frequently and are less lethal. Food is more plentiful and more easily accessed. In most parts of the world, birthrates are down and life expectancy up. Significantly fewer people live in extreme poverty, relative to the overall population. Statistics would argue that the human race has never before flourished as it has in this moment. And yet, even with this progress, we face a number of seemingly intractable challenges to the welfare of both states and individuals, including: Governmental instability undermining the lives of citizens, both within and beyond their borders;Persistent and recurring intrastate conflict due to ineffective conflict management strategies;Marginally successful develop