Most civilizations have evolved similarly, from wandering band, egalitarian, cooperative, sharing resources and in awe of nature, through the tribe, to the settled agricultural community and town and so to the city, at first usually centred on religion. As numbers grow, bureaucracies evolve and, from them, secular elites. Hierarchies of rule and ownership bring the desire first to acquire more - by force. Each rise in numbers is led by a new technology and a new order -with scope for peace or war. As we pass from the industrial into the information age, we seek a global order - but, unless" we control our technology, risk global destruction,

Organized warfare as a social institution dates from the Bronze Age. Each technological age since has raised its killing power. The industrial age created a capacity for mass destruction, raising deaths into millions in two world wars; nuclear technology brought Hiroshima. The post-war era has given rise to a military- industrial establishment and technological arms race which fuel increasing savagery. Civilian dead now outnumber soldiers. The chemical age has brought new weapons of mass destruction; the information age promises automated warfare. Biological and 'Star Wars' threaten. And the nuclear technology race is running out of control, bringing annihilating war ever closer.