A world without war: this is the vision that Douglas Roche has pursued for decades. A long-time Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament, Canadian ambassador for disarmament, and later a senator, Roche has been in the thick of international affairs for more than forty years.

Though few of us realize it, today the world is more peaceful than in past centuries. Death and destruction due to war have diminished dramatically in the past two decades. This is no accident -- it is the cumulative result of the work of the world's peacemakers. Sometimes in public, often behind the...