Is military action effective in enhancing national security? What happens to human beings amid the carnage of violence? Have we become trigger-happy or is a strong military the only practical means to safeguard what we hold dear? Is war a necessary evil or is it sheer madness?

In sound-rich documentary essays, Beyond War takes listeners to a weapons exhibition, a Veterans Administration hospital, a pacifist organization, a military cemetery, a therapist’s office where war survivors are counseled, a human rights courtroom and many others settings where listeners can ponder timely questions of war and peace.