Gomez-Castro, D., Ñaco, T., Principal, J. (2012), 'War, politics and peacebuilding. Thoughts and practical guidelines derived from ancient times', Policy paper, Intitut Català Internacional per la pau (Online Journal), No· 7, December 2012 ISSN: 2014-2765 DL: B-11634-2013 . (original) (raw)
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War, Peace, and Conflict Resolution in the Classical World
War or Peaceful Transformation. Multidisciplinary and International Perspectives, 2020
The focus of this chapter is to provide a general survey of Graeco-Roman ideas about war and peace. War was a constant in the classical world, and yet Greek city-states developed a series of primary instruments to promote conflict resolution—from diplomacy, negotiations, and international treaties, to amnesties and arbitration. Unfortunately, the Greeks did not develop a concept of “universal peace.” The Romans advanced in the process of producing more diplomatic and legal tools to deal with matters of war and peace. The deditio and the expansion of rights of citizenship to defeated nations were two particularly successful procedures to assure pacification. The existence of rules of war limiting the indiscriminate use of violence was not always an assurance against the perpetrating of atrocities and brutality in the classical world, especially against non-combatants and civilian populations. Particularly brutal cycles of violence moved intellectuals to advance proposals for the advancement of peace in Greece and Rome, mostly at the theoretical or artistic level. Finally, civic militarism, ethnic and cultural bias, and received ideas about the role of emotions, passions, and human nature in interstate relations played a crucial role in the way Greeks and Romans conducted war and thought about the war/peace couplet. Keywords: war, peace, reconciliation, international relations, classical Greece, ancient Rome, ancient military history
Building Peace in the Early Modern Europe and in the Ancient Mediterranean
The aim of the paper is to better historicize the topic of peace, which has a central place in the institutional tradition of IR. Special focus will be shed on the different strategies various polities have chosen to arrive at peace. In the European political thought, the way to establish a long-term peace was based on the idea of collective security. In reality, international order rather than peace was sought through power balancing. However, it is asserted that the doctrine of balance of power was not exclusively impervious to the idea of peace. By contrast, in the ancient Mediterranean world, the traditional image is to see the 'peacebuilding' efforts come out as a result of imposed hegemonism (e.g. Pax Persica, Pax Romana). Yet the search for peace also manifested itself with the concept of 'brotherhood'. This paper suggests it was not merely an idealistic rhetorical expression to achieve a short-term peace but instead, in certain cases, it constituted an institution-like element in the pre-modern international societies. By juxtaposing the European political thought with the ancient Mediterranean experience, the goal is to contribute to peace studies by further analyzing the English School theorizing on international societies through the prism of time.
Civitas Gentium 2:1 DEMOCRATIC PEACE THEORY AND MILITARISM: THE UNRELATED CONNECTIVITY
Democratic Peace Theory is a pivotal trend in International Relations theory and particularly in post Cold-War international politics. The analysis will support the view that Democratic Peace Theory is a hegemonic ploy and is the primary cause of militarism in the 21st century as the cases of Afghanistan and Iraq fully reveal. The article supports the view that the Democratic Peace Theory differs from the Kantian Perpetual Peace. Kant argued for Republicanism rather than war-prone Liberal Democracy. However, it is important to note that the phenomenon of war has systemic origins and is not related to any particular system of government. As a final conclusion, the article supports the view that the Democratic Peace Theory is the main source of militarism in international system of the 21st century, primarily due to the fact that it is being used as a Trojan Horse to implement hegemonic schemes. 'To this the specter no reply did frame, But answer'd to the cause for which he came, And, groaning from the bottom of his breast, This warning in these mournful words express'd: 'O goddess -born! escaped, by timely flight, The flames and horrors of this fatal night. The foes already have possess'd the wall; Troy nod from high, and totters to her fall' Virgil, The Aeneid, Book II.
Comparative study of concepts of peace ('universal', 'inner' and 'common' peace) in Axial Age China, India, Egypt, Greece and Rome, suggesting that certain types of state and social development are conducive to the development of particular concepts of peace - and that, contrary to modern historians' notions, the concept of lasting peace as the norm and goal of international relations was formulated in various ways at various times in antiquity and is not the invention of Immanuel Kant's Perpetual Peace of the late eighteenth century.
The Theory and Praxis of War and Peace in the Thucydidian Era: 450-400 BC*
Études helléniques / Hellenic Studies, 1998
Cet article présente les idées et les actions exopolitiques grecques de la seconde moitié du Vème siècle av.Je. Pour être en mesure d'obtenir la per spective nécessaire à cet effet, l'auteur juxtapose les théories aux pratiques impliquées avec les évènements cruciaux ayant ébranlé le centre du monde ancien. À cette époque, les relations inter-cité se sont traduites principalement par la guerre du Péloponnèse dont !'Histoire monumentale nous est livrée par Thucydide. L'oeuvre de Thucydide, qui s'insère dans un ensemble brillant formé des ouvrages des plus grands penseurs de l'âge d'or, se penche sur le dilemme entre patriotisme et nationalisme, entre idéalisme et réalisme. L'hypothèse de travail de cet article s'articule autour du fait que ces dilemmes peuvent être débattus et résolus de manière dialectique, de sorte que la synthèse résultante explique bien des contradictions anciennes ou actuelles de la macropolitique.
Peace and Reconciliation in the Classical World
Edited with Michael Stuart Williams. Warfare has long been central to a proper understanding of ancient Greece and Rome, worlds where war was, as the philosopher Heraclitus observed, ‘both king and father of all’. More recently, however, the understanding of Classical antiquity solely in such terms has been challenged; it is recognised that while war was pervasive, and a key concern in the narratives of ancient historians, a concomitant desire for peace was also constant. This volume places peace in the prime position as a panel of scholars stresses the importance of ‘peace’ as a positive concept in the ancient world (and not just the absence of, or necessarily even related to, war), and considers examples of conflict resolution, conciliation, and concession from Homer to Augustine. Comparing and contrasting theories and practice across different periods and regions, this collection highlights, first, the open and dynamic nature of peace, and then seeks to review a wide variety of initiatives from across the Classical world.