Would the World Be More Peaceful if Women Were in Charge?

Do you think the world would have less violence if more women were in charge?

A new book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined ,  by Harvard University psychologist Steven Pinker, says it would.  “Traditional war is a man’s game: tribal women never band together to raid neighboring villages,” he writes in his book.
Of course, some people say women don’t declare war because they are rarely in power, so perhaps the mythical Amazons were the exception that proves the rule. In fact, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir, and Indira Gandhi were powerful women and all of them led their countries to war. We found this very interesting blog post by Joseph S. Nye, a former US assistant secretary of defense and chairman of the US National Intelligence Council, who is currently a professor at Harvard University.
Nye thoughtfully analyzes women’s roles, leadership styles and some of the many reasons they have not risen to control the world.

  • Must women conform to male values if they are to rise to power?
  • Once women have half the position of power, could they change their tactics?

If men prefer the hard power of command, while women would rather collaborate, attract and persuade, are those really masculine and feminine traits? Or are they just different styles that men and women can all use where appropriate?
As networks replace hierarchies, “shared leadership” blooms and many employers say they have to coddle their  employees to find and keep good workers. “Even the military faces these changes,” Nye writes.  Read the whole post and let us know what you think.

Steven Pinker
Joseph S. Nye

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