At the dawn of the 20th century, British poet Hillaire Belloc presaged the violence to come when he pointed out that his country’s troops would prevail in developing lands because, “Whatever happens, we have got the Gatling gun and they have not.” Of course in World War I, both sides had versions of the “Gatling gun,” and by the time the Allies prevailed, millions had been slaughtered.

Things didn’t immediately change even after a second World War. One reason the victorious allies formed NATO was to, in the words of its first Secretary General Lord Ismay, “To keep America in, to keep Russia out and to keep Germany down.” Leaders expected another war, and wanted to have their militaries prepared for it.

Even the award-winning children’s book “Stone Soup,” published in 1947, plays up the theme. The villagers are frightened when three soldiers come to town. That, again, is a reasonable fear. Throughout history, when armed men came to your village it was bad news, even if they wore the uniform of your country or king.

The Third Amendment to our Constitution seems quaint these days. “No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.” But foraging soldiers were clearly a concern in the 1770s, right here in our country.

Yet -- despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the civil war in Sudan -- today’s world is as peaceful as it’s ever been.

In its annual yearbook, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute writes that, “In 2007, 14 major armed conflicts were active in 13 locations around the world.” This may sound like a lot of fighting, but it’s really not. “Over the past decade the global number of active major armed conflicts has declined overall,” the institute adds.

The numbers have been trending in the right direction for some time. “Between 1989 and 2002, about 100 state-based conflicts came to an end. More wars are now ending than beginning,” a Human Security Centre report put it in 2005. Humanity has made great progress, and that’s changing our language and our landscape.

C’est la guerre? Maybe the next generation will instead go, “War? Like, what’s that?”