Question:

How will the Messiah bring peace to such a strife-filled world?

Answer:

All the fighting and unrest in the world is a product of the fact that every entity feels itself to be a distinct identity, and therefore at odds with everything else which might impede its own desires or needs.

Peace is an expression of the idea that people recognize that they are part of a common goal. A deeper state of peace is when everyone realizes that they are actually part of the same existence. This is made possible when they realize that, truthfully, there is only one true existence — G‑d.

The Messianic Era will be a time when the world will be suffused with the awareness of G‑d, and every person, place and thing will feel less and less as a distinct identity, and will view themselves more as part of G‑d's master plan; sharing one goal and one soul.

All progress and improvement that we are witnessing in our world is part of this cosmic progression to a messianic utopia. No longer are war and the conquering of another nation viewed with pride. Throughout the globe, humanitarian morals are being more and more respected and valued.

In a scientific sense, people used to think that each of the forces of nature is completely separate; that the matter of every object is comprised of numerous distinct elements. The more science develops, the more it reaches recognition that all of the diversity and disparity among the various elements is only an external factor — the way in which the components fuse, the degree of contraction or expansion, etc. Thus, the scientists are continually decreasing the number of fundamental components.

For a more thorough study of this concept see our Moshiach Anthology.