Peace and Conflict Studies

Negative peace refers to the absence of direct, physical violence, while positive peace describes the presence of social justice, equality, and institutional structures that address the root causes of conflict and prevent violence from recurring.

A concept introduced by Johan Galtung describing harm caused by social structures and institutions that prevent people from meeting their basic needs, even in the absence of direct physical violence. It includes systemic poverty, racism, and unequal access to healthcare or education.

An approach pioneered by John Paul Lederach that goes beyond resolving immediate disputes to address the underlying relationships, systems, and cultural patterns that generate conflict, aiming to transform destructive conflict dynamics into constructive social change.

The set of judicial and non-judicial mechanisms that societies use to address legacies of mass atrocity and human rights violations during transitions from conflict or authoritarian rule to peace and democracy, including trials, truth commissions, reparations, and institutional reform.

Unofficial, informal interactions between private citizens, academics, former officials, or civil society groups from opposing sides of a conflict, intended to build trust, generate creative solutions, and support or complement official (Track I) diplomatic negotiations.

A situation in which actions taken by one state to increase its own security, such as military buildup or alliance formation, are perceived as threatening by other states, prompting them to respond in kind and creating an escalatory spiral even when no party intends aggression.

A strategy of political action that uses methods such as civil disobedience, strikes, boycotts, and mass demonstrations to challenge oppression and achieve political goals without resorting to physical violence, often drawing on the traditions of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

A global political commitment adopted by the United Nations in 2005 establishing that sovereign states have the primary responsibility to protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, and that the international community should intervene when a state manifestly fails to do so.

A process used in post-conflict settings to collect weapons from combatants, formally disband armed groups, and support former fighters in returning to civilian life through vocational training, education, psychosocial support, and economic opportunities.

The proposition that democracies are significantly less likely to go to war with one another than non-democracies, attributed to shared democratic norms of peaceful conflict resolution, institutional constraints on leaders, and economic interdependence between democratic states.