Approaches to Peace

This course offers an introductory survey of the various approaches to achieving and sustaining peace. It begins by examining several foundational questions about the nature and dynamics of peace and conflict. The two main sections of the course are then organized according to the major distinction between “negative peace” (the absence of war or violence - conflict management) and “positive peace” (justice, dispute resolution, reconciliation - conflict resolution). We explore mechanisms to achieve both kinds of peace, with special attention to their underlying assumptions about human behavior and their limitations. We focus on peace as a phenomenon at international, national, and local levels, with primary attention to international and civil conflict.