Can we say that peace is a recent invention? (Michael Howard)

Résumé du document

A broad definition of peace would be the absence of war. War, it has been proved, does relieve the masses from boredom and monotony. This is also evident in the fact that we enjoy watching war movies for the excitement and thrill they provide. But peace can be as fulfilling as war, if not more so. We can safely assume that the concept of peace was invented before the 21rst century, but the question we will address in this document is when exactly the invention took place and how recent it is. In order to find a credible answer to this question we will need to view peace in two different ways; both as a concept (in thought) and in practice. Firstly, we will see when and why peace was invented as a concept, and will then go on analyze the implementation of peace in practice before concluding the discussion.

Extraits

[...] The death of the influential military thinker, Carl Von Clausewitz in 1831, was and still is a godsend as western populations consider more and more wars like the failure of politics (diplomatic talks, negotiations . ) and not 'merely a continuation' of it. On the other hand, the atrocities of World War One helped to accelerate the process. Indeed, we can learn from the suffering inflicted and undergone by the 'hero'. The population would therefore clearly see the other side of the coin! [...]

[...] Pearson who received the 1957 Nobel Prize for Peace because of his support of the United Nations Organisation and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said, in agreement with what we said previously that prepare for war like precocious giants and for peace like retarded pygmies.” It is true that we have to recognize that institutional efforts are rare. The State diplomacies remain more Machiavellian than 'Morian' and serve the national interest as much by war than by the research of peace as they aim for the best final result. Thus, regarding peace, the tendency is to rely on the international organizations and mainly on the U.N.O. which explains its importance in our imperfect world! [...]

[...] Until this year, the 'entente' tradition was perpetuated by the French president, Jacques Chirac, and the German chancellor, Gerard Schroeder. among many European citizens, truly hope that Angela Merkel will continue to maintain these political friendship links in good shape. Talking about Europe, the renunciation of organized violence within it is very recent as it is mostly due to the commercial agreements that the European Union gave birth to. Liberals think that trade favours peace and they are quite right when we see the peaceful situation of Europe today. [...]

[...] Michael Howard, who believes firmly that peace is a recent invention, also says that “peace is a 'far more complex affair than war' and a matter of meeting specific, yet ever changing challenges”. Moreover the definition of positive peace may be too utopian to be established in our world. We do have the example of the 'Pax Romana' or Roman Peace which occurred from under Emperor Augustus (27 BC- 14 AD) to under the emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180) within the Empire's borders. [...]

[...] Anyway they had no other option, or else they would die killed by their superior as it was forbidden to desert. These stories brought back by letters sent during the war or by the few survivors who came back after the armistice was signed, were a factor in the development of a negative idea of war and consequently a positive one of peace. The 2nd World War (1939-1945) reinforced this trend with its phenomenal modernization of weapons (rapid and easy to handle tanks, machine-guns, first rockets, first intercontinental bombers, first nuclear weapons, development of aviation). [...]