At 11am this Thursday, silence and stillness will suddenly pervade the UK. Radio stations and TV channels will pause their programming. Cars will stop dead in the road. Teachers will stop teaching, office chatter will subside. For two minutes, the bustle of modern life will come to a halt.

This is the way that Britain marks Armistice DayAn armistice is an agreement to end fighting, but not necessarily a declaration of peace: the First World War didn't formally finish until a little later. Armistice Day is not quite the same as Remembrance Sunday, which takes place on the nearest Sunday to November 11th.: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and the anniversary of the moment in 1918 when the bloodshed of the First World War officially ceased. 

Ever since then, this time of year has been designated as a period of remembrance. In the words of the British LegionA charity dedicated to supporting veterans and responsible for the Poppy Appeal. it is an occasion both to "honour those who serve" and "hope for a more peaceful world".

The world we inhabit today is thankfully less war-ravaged than in 1918. But the "war to end all wars" fell far short of living up to its epithetA nickname that describes something about a person or thing.. And today, the goal of universal peace seems as remote as ever. 

Conflict in EthiopiaA landlocked country in Africa. With a population of about 120 million, Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures. has caused 18,000 deaths so far this year and is increasingly sucking in neighbouring countries. Afghanistian continues to experience violence following the victory of a resurgent TalibanA violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women.. Syria is mired in a civil war that has lasted over a decade, claiming more than 500,000 lives. The Yemini crisis has been exacerbated by the intervention of Saudi Arabia.  Mexico's seemingly endless drug warsLike many Latin American countries, Mexico has powerful and well-armed drug cartels that are in constant conflict with the government. have a death toll that some observers estimate at 25,000 this year alone.

These wars might seem distant to many people in the West. But the arms industry, worth $430bn, and most of the weapons that fuel conflicts, are produced in factories situated in the world's wealthiest countries. The USA alone will make over £9bn from arms exports this year.

Across the globe the estimated expenditure on armed forces totals about $2tn per year: all of this destructive potential is constantly on standby. And that is not to mention the nuclear arsenals that lurk beneath the oceans and underground, carrying enough force to destroy the world many times over.

As the world remembers the horrors of war and the sacrifices made for peace, a provocative old question is again being raised: if we are serious about ending war, why not simply abolish the weapons and institutions that make war possible?

Some find this idea absurd: governments tend to think of the defence of the realm as their most vital priority. "War is horrible," as Winston Churchill said, "but slavery is worse".

On the other hand, some nations thrive without armed forces. There are currently 31 of them, including Costa Rica, which constitutionally abolished its military in 1949. Supporters of demilitarisation say that this has allowed the state to spend more money on things that support the economy and citizens' wellbeing - something that could be replicated elsewhere.

This idea is not only naive, some say, but dangerous: if the more principled nations of the world put down their weapons, huge populations will be at the mercy of tyrants. We can't stop villains from using force, they say, so the best we can do is ensure it is possible to beat them in a fight.

It is logic like that which perpetuates wars, pacifists respond: only once we renounce force will we discover other means to resolve conflict. Armies do not exist because of the inevitability of war, they say; but war is inevitable as long as armies exist.