An Overview of Peace and Conflict
AN OVERVIEW OF PEACE AND CONFLICT
DEFINITIONS:
Peace is often seen as the converse of war. i.e. peace and war as two sides of the same coin. Hence the definition of peace as the absence of war, and that of war as the absence of peace
The problem with this definition is that it does not explain everything about peace and war
For example even in situations of war, some conditions of peace still prevail. E.g. in spite the long years of hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians, both have been able to reach a peaceful agreement on the use of their water resources.
Secondly, the definition does not take into account the issue of structural violence, in the words of John Galtung. According to Galtung, war represents only one form of violence, which is physical, open and direct.
The others form of violence has to do with social conditions of life. This consists of
• Poverty
• Exclusion
• Intimidation
• Oppression
• Want
• Fear and
• Other forms of psychological pressure
So from this analysis, it is possible not to have peace even where there is no war.
This is the situation in countries where there is acute poverty, police brutality, oppression of the poor by the rich, use of power to intimidate people by those in power. Even where there is no war in such societies, they may not experience peace (Ibeanu)
OTHER VIEW OF CONFLICT:
• Conflict as the pursuit of incompatible interests and goals by different groups
• Conflict occurs as a struggle over values. The values may be in terms of physical of material possessions or resources, status or power. (Louise Coser)
• Central to conflict is the issue of perception. When one party perceives the action of another as preventing or blocking the attainment of a goal, conflict is said to occur. Therefore the two ingredients necessary for conflict to occur are:
Perceived goal incompatibility
Perceived opportunity for interference or blocking.
In other words, conflict occurs
DEFINITIONS:
Peace is often seen as the converse of war. i.e. peace and war as two sides of the same coin. Hence the definition of peace as the absence of war, and that of war as the absence of peace
The problem with this definition is that it does not explain everything about peace and war
For example even in situations of war, some conditions of peace still prevail. E.g. in spite the long years of hostilities between the Israelis and Palestinians, both have been able to reach a peaceful agreement on the use of their water resources.
Secondly, the definition does not take into account the issue of structural violence, in the words of John Galtung. According to Galtung, war represents only one form of violence, which is physical, open and direct.
The others form of violence has to do with social conditions of life. This consists of
• Poverty
• Exclusion
• Intimidation
• Oppression
• Want
• Fear and
• Other forms of psychological pressure
So from this analysis, it is possible not to have peace even where there is no war.
This is the situation in countries where there is acute poverty, police brutality, oppression of the poor by the rich, use of power to intimidate people by those in power. Even where there is no war in such societies, they may not experience peace (Ibeanu)
OTHER VIEW OF CONFLICT:
• Conflict as the pursuit of incompatible interests and goals by different groups
• Conflict occurs as a struggle over values. The values may be in terms of physical of material possessions or resources, status or power. (Louise Coser)
• Central to conflict is the issue of perception. When one party perceives the action of another as preventing or blocking the attainment of a goal, conflict is said to occur. Therefore the two ingredients necessary for conflict to occur are:
Perceived goal incompatibility
Perceived opportunity for interference or blocking.
In other words, conflict occurs