Peace

The concept of peace ranks among the most controversial in our time. Peace undoubtedly carries a positive connotation; almost nobody admits to opposing peace; world peace is widely seen as one of the most noble goals of humanity. Various groups, however, differ sharply about what peace entails, how best to achieve peace, and whether peace is even truly possible.

Is Violence Necessary?

There is a wide spectrum of views about whether, and when, violence and war are necessary. Followers of Jainism, for example, go to great lengths to avoid harming even animals and pacifists, such as Christian anarchists, see any sort of violence as self-perpetuating. Other groups take a wide variety of stances.

Related Topics:
War - Jainism - Pacifists - Christian anarchists

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Historical Examples and Counter Examples

Allied propaganda billed the Great War in Europe as the "war to end all wars." Although the Allies won the war, the resulting "peace" Treaty of Versailles only set the stage for the even bloodier World War II. Before the Allied victory, the Bolsheviks promised the Russian people "peace, land, and bread." Although Vladimir Lenin ended the disastrous war against the Central Powers, the ensuing civil war resulted in a loss of over a million people. These failures illustrate the problems of using war in an effort to attain peace.

Related Topics:
Great War - Treaty of Versailles - World War II - Bolsheviks - Vladimir Lenin - Central Powers

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Proponents of the democratic peace theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that democracies rarely make war against each other. An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the industrial revolution, and thus, they claim world peace may thus become of possible if this trend continues. However, it can also be argued that this could equally be explained by a number of other factors related to the wealth, power, and stability of nations that tend to become democracies, ranging from becoming reliant on strong global trade connections to Mutually Assured Destruction.

Related Topics:
Democratic peace theory - Democracies - Industrial revolution - World peace - Trade - Mutually Assured Destruction

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