🕊️ Conflict and Peace

(In International Relations)

1. 🧩 Concept of Peace

Definition: Absence of hostility & violence; presence of harmony.

Types (Kenneth Boulding):

• 🔹 Positive Peace: Harmony, cooperation, maturity, love.
• 🔹 Negative Peace: Mere absence of war, conflict, turmoil.

2. ⚔️ Concept of Conflict

Positive Aspects:

• Highlights injustices
• Promotes change
• Encourages creative problem-solving

Negative Aspects:

• Leads to violence, trauma, loss of life/property.

3. 🔄 Changing Nature of Warfare

Old Warfare: State vs State

New Warfare:

• 🌐 Cyber Attacks (AI, data, social media)
• 🧠 Socio-Psychological Tactics (e.g., refugee protests)
• 💣 Terrorism & Proxy Wars
• ☣️ Biological/Chemical War
• ☢️ Nuclear War
• 🕊️ Diplomatic War (e.g., Wolf Warrior Diplomacy)
• 💰 Economic War (e.g., BRI)

Factors Changing Warfare:

• Tech advances, Internet, Political shifts
• Rise of non-state actors, Terrorist orgs
• Information overload, Insurgencies

4. ☠️ Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)

• Types: Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC)
• Threat: Mass scale death & destruction
• Concerns: Proliferation among rogue states & terrorists

Key Treaties/Measures:

• 🕊️ NPT (1968) - Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
• 🧬 BWC (1972) - Biological Weapons Convention
• 🧪 CWC (1993) - Chemical Weapons Convention
• 🛑 UNSC Res. 1540 (2004) - UN Security Council Resolution 1540

5. 🚫 Deterrence

Definition: Threat to prevent enemy action

Cold War: Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Types:

• Direct Deterrence
• Extended Deterrence (e.g., US–Japan)

Key Thinkers: Brodie, Kahn, Mearsheimer, Schelling

Debate: Still relevant vs irrelevant in non-state conflict era

Dual Deterrence: Vague promises to both sides (e.g., Taiwan)

6. 🤝 Conflict Resolution

Definition (Peter Wallenstein):

• Peaceful ending of armed conflict
• Mutual agreement to live peacefully

Dimensions:

• 🧠 Cognitive (beliefs, views)
• ❤️ Emotional (feelings, energy)
• 🕴️ Behavioural (actions)

7 Strategies (Wallenstein):

• Priority shift
• Divide resources
• Horse-trading
• Power-sharing
• Third-party control
• Legal means (arbitration)
• Delay/Defer resolution

7. 🔁 Conflict Transformation

• Origin: 1960s–70s (Senghaas, Krippendorf)
• Focus: Long-term change in systems and relationships

Not Same as Resolution:

• 🟦 Resolution = Solve immediate problem
• 🟨 Transformation = Deep relationship repair & trust-building

Key Thinkers:

• John Paul Lederach: Conflict = “Motor of Change”
• Fischer & Ropers: Transformation is a comprehensive opportunity