The book has arisen out of a collaborative project undertaken by the International Christian University in Tokyo and Washington State University in Pullman and sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science, 21st century Center of Excellence Program. Undertaken in a multidisciplinary approach, it consists of 12 articles that explore the topic of peace from viewpoints as diverse as the philosophical or theological on the one hand, and the practical and strategic, on the other. It is a study that makes a much-needed contribution to contemporary peace studies in meeting the challenge set before it by the growing complexity of both the nature of and the actors involved in issues concerning peace, violence and conflict in the 21st century.