Introduction: the characteristic elements of violence 1. An attempt of definition and characterization of violence 2. Basic characters of violence as a general social phenomenon 3. Social sciences and the problem of violence: a preliminary approach 4. The theories of rational collective action and its historical application. 5. Violence in politics 6. Main violent archetypes 7. State and violence 8. War and peace between the nations: basic principles of polemology and irenology 9. Peace and diplomacy 10. War and technological development 11. Cultures of war and cultures of peace 12. War and society in the "New Military History".