After the end of the Cold War, new opportunities for a peaceful world emerged, as well as new trouble spots. One of mankind's dreams might become reality: new weapons, not intended to kill, are supposed to resolve conflicts more "humanly". But are lasers, electro shock weapons, microwaves, hypersonic sound, nanoparticles, stinking gases, pepper spray, nets, blocking systems able to break the cycle of violence? The new arms race with so called "non-lethal" or "less-lethal" weapons is characterized by the critics as a new barrier between the conflict parties and avoids peaceful means of conflict managment. Because these new weapons, like microwave or laser beams, are to a greater extend invisible, the public discussion will be more difficult. People shot with microwave or laser beams are less dramatic for cameramen than protestors beaten with baton or knocked down through fire hoses and pepper gases.—Anonymous