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In this wide-ranging and unfiltered conversation, Robert Young Pelton sits down with Professor Clionadh Raleigh, founder of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), to unpack how global violence is actually measured—and why most people misunderstand what the data really shows. For anyone expecting a Band-Aid solution or We Are the World framing, be warned: both Pelton and Raleigh argue that violence is a feature, not a flaw, of modern state foreign policy.

ACLED began in 2005 as part of Raleigh’s doctoral research, challenging the blunt practice of labeling entire countries as “violent.” Instead, ACLED tracks individual violent events by location, actor, and type, revealing patterns of power, governance, and competition with unprecedented clarity. Now a nonprofit, ACLED records roughly 1,100–1,200 violent events every day across every country on Earth, drawing from more than 5,000 sources in over 100 languages—and relying on in-country researchers rather than AI-generated estimates. This granular data is central to the factual foundation Pelton uses when assessing the world’s most dangerous places.

A core theme is how politicized fatality counts have become. In conflicts like Ukraine and Gaza—together accounting for about 22% of global violence—death tolls are routinely inflated or suppressed, and access to on-the-ground reporting is often denied or lethal. ACLED prioritizes consistency and cross-verification, recognizing that raw numbers are increasingly weaponized for strategic narratives.

The conversation challenges humanitarian orthodoxy head-on. Raleigh argues that while aid saves lives, it has largely failed to reduce conflict because it rests on the false assumption that violence is driven mainly by poverty or state collapse. ACLED’s data shows violence today is increasingly produced by states and market-driven actors competing over trade routes, resources, labor, and political leverage—conflict as business.

The discussion concludes with a stark assessment: global violence has plateaued at its highest recorded level, with one in six people now directly exposed. States are the primary drivers, and peace has little market value.

ACLED’s mission isn’t advocacy—it’s clarity. An hour of insight from Dr. Raleigh and RYP.

And yes, there is snow in Africa.

Robert Young Pelton is a Canadian-American author, journalist, filmmaker, and adventurer known for his conflict reporting and for venturing alone into some of the world's most dangerous and remote areas to chronicle history-shaping events. His work often involves interviewing military and political figures in war zones and spending time embedded with various groups, including the Taliban, Northern Alliance, CIA operatives, al Qaeda, and Blackwater .

He has been present at numerous conflicts, from Ukraine to the the Battle of Grozny and from Qali Jangi in Afghanistan to the rebel siege of Monrovia in Liberia.

Pelton is the author of several books, most notably the New York Times bestselling guide, "The World's Most Dangerous Places," which provides information for navigating high-risk zones. He has also written "Come Back Alive," a survival guide, and his autobiography, "The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places". His work includes feature stories for National Geographic, Men’s Journal, Foreign Policy and Vice. He has worked as a contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure and has worked for major media networks like Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, CBS's 60 Minutes, ABC Investigative Division, and CNN.

Pelton is also the founder of DPx Gear, a company that designs rugged survival tools and knives based on his field experiences.

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Making Smart Decisions in Dangerous Places

What does wisdom really mean when lives are on the line?

In Wisdom Under Fire, conflict journalist and survival expert Robert Young Pelton explores decision-making in environments where mistakes are punished immediately. Drawing on more than four decades in war zones, failed states, and high-risk situations, Pelton argues that wisdom isn’t mystical, emotional, or age-dependent. Wisdom is the quality of your decisions—and their outcomes—especially under stress.

This isn’t philosophy. It’s survival.

Pelton dismantles the idea of “Yoda-style” wisdom. In dangerous places, wisdom is intensely practical: avoiding stupidity, managing bias, and choosing actions that increase your odds of survival. Many failures don’t come from ignorance, but from confident, unexamined assumptions.

Why Your Brain Can Get You Killed

Under stress, the brain defaults to ancient survival instincts that don’t match modern threats. Cognitive bias, overconfidence, and false pattern recognition distort judgment—especially among intelligent, educated people. “Gut feelings” are often primitive reactions, not insight. Training, not instinct, prevents panic and poor choices.

We fear loud, obvious threats and miss quiet, lethal ones. Wisdom starts with recognizing how unreliable the brain can be under pressure.

Three Levels of Decision-Making

Pelton breaks decisions into:

• Strategic (made calmly in advance)
• Tactical (made as events unfold)
• Crisis (split-second choices)

Most failures happen before the crisis, when preparation is ignored. Preparation creates options. Options create calm. Calm enables correct action.

Decisions That Mattered

Pelton shares real-world examples—from staying put after a missile strike in Ukraine to walking into a potential ambush in the Darién Gap—where correct decisions were based on experience, not impulse.

The Takeaway

Wisdom isn’t intelligence or fearlessness. Wisdom is clear thinking under pressure and choosing the least-worst option.

Train your decision-making, and panic fades. Others may call it wisdom—but it’s really practiced judgment.

Robert Young Pelton is a Canadian-American author, journalist, filmmaker, and adventurer known for his conflict reporting and for venturing alone into some of the world's most dangerous and remote areas to chronicle history-shaping events. His work often involves interviewing military and political figures in war zones and spending time embedded with various groups, including the Taliban, Northern Alliance, CIA operatives, al Qaeda, and Blackwater .

He has been present at numerous conflicts, from Ukraine to the the Battle of Grozny and from Qali Jangi in Afghanistan to the rebel siege of Monrovia in Liberia.

Pelton is the author of several books, most notably the New York Times bestselling guide, "The World's Most Dangerous Places," which provides information for navigating high-risk zones. He has also written "Come Back Alive," a survival guide, and his autobiography, "The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places". His work includes feature stories for National Geographic, Men’s Journal, Foreign Policy and Vice. He has worked as a contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure and has worked for major media networks like Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, CBS's 60 Minutes, ABC Investigative Division, and CNN.

Pelton is also the founder of DPx Gear, a company that designs rugged survival tools and knives based on his field experiences.

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In Robert Young Pelton’s latest project—a reimagining of The World’s Most Dangerous Places—he begins with the building blocks of survival: turning raw information into useful knowledge and calm decisions under pressure.

When Pelton first wrote his guide, there were almost no online sources. Today, there are too many—and everyone claims to be an expert. More data will be produced in the next three years than in all of human history, much of it generated by AI. It’s like being dropped into a forest with no map or compass.

Drawing on hard-won experience in war zones, Pelton shows why gathering, filtering, and prioritizing the right information is now a survival skill. With Reza, he asks: If information built civilization, what happens when we lose control of it?

Pelton takes the viewer back to basics: the five senses. For most of human history, information was physical and high-stakes—a sound meant danger, a smell meant food, a pattern meant shelter or threat. Start there, he advises. If something feels “off,” your senses are the first filter.

The brain can absorb millions of bits of data every second, but the conscious mind handles only a tiny fraction. Overload leads to stress, confusion, and apathy—exactly when you need clarity. Bad inputs create bias and overconfidence in what you only think you know.

Pelton then explores the “joy of nothing.” If overload harms the mind, can silence sharpen it? Wilderness, isolation, and stillness can reset awareness—but too much isolation tips into anxiety, hallucination, and paranoia. The lesson: manage the amount and quality of input.

In the real world, social media and news are built to hijack your attention. Algorithms reward outrage and emotional extremes. Pelton and Reza call this weaponized information: content that makes you reactive instead of reflective. With traditional editors gone, anyone with a phone or AI tools can publish fiction as truth.

You must become your own editor and seer. Cross-check sources. Prioritize depth over speed. Build and protect your own library of trusted knowledge before it disappears behind paywalls, outages, or link rot.

Pelton’s message is clear: the filters you use to process information matter more than the information itself. Investigate primary sources. Question narratives. Strengthen your self-editing. In a wo

Robert Young Pelton is a Canadian-American author, journalist, filmmaker, and adventurer known for his conflict reporting and for venturing alone into some of the world's most dangerous and remote areas to chronicle history-shaping events. His work often involves interviewing military and political figures in war zones and spending time embedded with various groups, including the Taliban, Northern Alliance, CIA operatives, al Qaeda, and Blackwater .

He has been present at numerous conflicts, from Ukraine to the the Battle of Grozny and from Qali Jangi in Afghanistan to the rebel siege of Monrovia in Liberia.

Pelton is the author of several books, most notably the New York Times bestselling guide, "The World's Most Dangerous Places," which provides information for navigating high-risk zones. He has also written "Come Back Alive," a survival guide, and his autobiography, "The Adventurist: My Life in Dangerous Places". His work includes feature stories for National Geographic, Men’s Journal, Foreign Policy and Vice. He has worked as a contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure and has worked for major media networks like Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, CBS's 60 Minutes, ABC Investigative Division, and CNN.

Pelton is also the founder of DPx Gear, a company that designs rugged survival tools and knives based on his field experiences.