This book reexamines how we understand the psychology of violence and war, challenging long‑standing dualistic, reductionistic, and deterministic explanations. It critiques traditional nature–nurture models, arguing that these frameworks oversimplify human behavior and fail to capture the deeper dynamics that shape our movement toward or away from violence. In place of these approaches, the book proposes a wholistic psychology rooted in embodiment, non‑duality, and phenomenological identity development. Rather than viewing violence as a product of innate traits or social conditioning, it suggests that our dispositions are best understood through the habits we continually form. Using American culture as a case study, the book illustrates how national narratives and embodied patterns help explain uniquely American attitudes toward war. The final chapter offers a hopeful vision grounded in embodied ethics and spiritual–existential reorientation, showing how such practices can strengthen our psychological resilience and support a more peaceable way of being.

Barbod Salimi is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Nevada State University. He previously held fulltime professorships at Alliant International University and Boston University. His work is multidisciplinary and rests at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, religion, and ethics. He resides in Las Vegas with his wife and three children.