Values, World Society and Modelling Yearbook 2014

The Values, World Society and Modelling Yearbook 2014 analyses contemporary world events, drawing on foundational ideas in various academic disciplines. The year 2014 was the centenary of the start of the First World War and the seventieth anniversary of the Normandy landings in the Second World War. The year saw violent conflict in Ukraine and the rise of the Islamic State in parts of Syria and Iraq. A referendum was held in Scotland to decide whether to stay in the UK. Centrist parties lost ground in the European Parliament elections and a general election was held in India, the biggest ever election in the world. Thomas Piketty sparked debate with his analysis of growing inequality in capitalist economies. Politicians in the UK talked about ‘British values’ and debated ‘is Britain Christian?’ The British Museum lent one of the Elgin Marbles to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and Putin made overtures to China. In California, Elliot Rodger went on the rampage, killing six people. Malala Yousafzay won the Nobel Peace Prize, Maryam Mirzakhani won the Fields Medal and Judit Polgar retired from international chess. Germany won the World Cup in Brazil. Echoes of the Big Bang confirmed the theory of how the universe began. The 2014 Yearbook discusses these events alongside a variety of other specific events and general issues. In addition, this book includes the speech given by Kevin Avruch when he was joint recipient of the Conflict Research Society Book of the Year Prize 2014 for his book Context and Pretext in Conflict Resolution.