The Politics of Gun Control

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The south came from regions where they did have to ate a culture of honor to protect their ranches, or their herds of animals. Chicago's homicide problem is thus partly this thing, you kno makes oh, it's the state. It's repleacing. It's norms. It seems hard to change. But another way to look at it, a is that we see a lot of variation across, you s cities. And we all have very similar states, you know, policen and norms. Some of us sort of are better at figuring out how to handle those two thousand trigger pullers and others? Ah, either with carrots or with sticks.

Shermer and Blattman discuss: Putin, Russia, and Ukraine • game theory and violent conflict • 5 Reasons for conflict and war • common elements of conflict in Medellin, Chicago, Sudan, Somalia, etc. • U.S. foreign policy in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and elsewhere, and its consequences • human nature and conflict: are we wired to fight or do environments push us into conflicts? • cooperation vs. competition / selfish genes vs. collection action problems • inner demons and better angels • violence and wars in our paleolithic ancestors • why violence has declined over the centuries • Chicago as a test case for theories of conflict and peace • why gangs, groups, and even nations mostly avoid conflict and war because of its consequences • and whether international aid and economic development attenuate violence.

Dr. Christopher Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies (University of Chicago), where he coleads the Development Economics Center and directs the Obama Foundation Scholars program. His work on violence, crime, and poverty has been widely covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, Slate, Vox, and NPR.