<p>Dieter Senghaas today is the world&#39;s leading figure in the field of conflict research, conflict management research, and the study of the prerequisites of lasting peace. The fact that virulent conflict within what Senghaas calls the OECD world, essentially the European Union, has become unthinkable over the past half-century encourages him in the face of violent conflict in many parts of the world to be reasonably optimistic about the prospect for our planet as a whole.</p>