Since the end of WW2 Europe has mostly been peaceful. Germany, France, England, Spain, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, have gone 65 years now without any major wars erupting between them. Now we have an organized European government, a continental currency (imperfect but mostly intact), and borders where people now frequently cross without having to show papers.
What caused it?
Some of my ideas:
Development of shared and mutually beneficial economic systems so where the economy of one country has direct bearing upon the others.
Formation of the UN which could handle disputes between nations.
Mass communications like radio and television (and now the internet) which span nations and allow ideas and thoughts to flow freely across borders.
Lack of stress from colonial issues.
Just a general feeling that war is no longer a way to handle disputes.
What do you all think?
Finally could any of these things possibly lead to peace in other areas of the globe like Africa or the Middle East?