The Abolition of War explores the ideas that inform Krzysztof Wodiczko's project The World Institute for the Abolition of War and is a manifesto for the dismantling of what Wodiczko sees as the ubiquitous, unconscious, and ultimately perilous "Culture of War", which is embedded within and constantly reaffirmed by our monuments and our historical narratives. In this volume Wodiczko, winner of the Hiroshima Art Prize in 1998, offers a detailed examination of his proposal for The World Institute for the Abolition of War, a projected "Un-War Memorial" constructed as a structure encapsulating the existing Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Wodiczko is joined by anthropologist Douglas Fry to shed light on the silent but deeply rooted ideologies of war, which permeate our contemporary societies, fuelling current acts of aggression and threatening to erupt into further warfare. Fry's essay "Abolition of War: An Agenda for Survival" contradicts the generally held assumption that war is an inevitable aspect of human life, and posits new models of global interdependency as the necessary step towards viable peace.