Peace and Conflict
What is examined
Peace and conflict questions test your grasp of conflict causes, types of violence and the tools of conflict management. Be precise about which actor authorizes which action.
Core rules
- Negative peace is the absence of direct violence; positive peace (Galtung) includes justice and the absence of structural violence.
- Types: interstate, intrastate, asymmetric (state vs non-state), proxy, and 'new wars' (Kaldor) involving identity, civilians and illicit economies.
- Causes: greed vs grievance (Collier); horizontal inequality; weak institutions; resource curses; security dilemmas.
- UN Charter: Chapter VI (pacific settlement), Chapter VII (coercive measures, including force), Article 51 (self-defence). The P5 veto shapes what is possible.
- Peace operations: peacekeeping (consent, impartiality, minimum force), peace enforcement (Chapter VII), peacebuilding (institutions, reconciliation), peacemaking (diplomacy).
- Regional bodies (AU, ECOWAS) can act, but legitimacy and capacity vary.
Worked example
'Why did UN peacekeeping fail in Bosnia?' The mandate was ambiguous and lightly armed (UNPROFOR); consent collapsed; member states restricted forces; safe areas were not defensible; the UNSC veto constrained escalation. Conclude: failure is a product of mandate, resources and political will-not just 'the UN'.
Traps
- Equating ceasefire with peace.
- Treating the UN as a single actor.
- Ignoring structural violence.
- Confusing peacekeeping with peace enforcement.
- Assuming R2P automatically authorizes force.