Book Review of "Design For a Better World" by

The important and ongoing question of "How to 'wage peace' in a world which seems intent on waging war?" is the subject of Hanna Newcombe's Design for a Better World. In what is a massive undertaking? setting forth a comprehensive framework for restructuring attitudes and institutions internationally? Newcombe is to be commended for her effort.
Skeptical of Utopian formulas, Newcombe nonetheless attempts to chart an ambitious course for reform at all levels. Suggesting that "the present world is fraught with frightful dangers55 (e.g., the threat of nuclear annihilation, ecological doom, resource wars, widespread starvation, worldwide tyranny, universal terrorism), Newcombe contends that we can no longer take for granted "the survival of the human species55 (p. 1) . We must fundamentally restructure individual attitudes and international institutions.