THE EVOLUTION OF THE PEACE CONCEPT IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN POLITICAL THOUGHT FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD TO THE MODERN AGE

Abstract

The notion of peace as a fundamental value of human civilisation has historically been a subject of reflection among theorists of political science and international relations. Over the centuries, the concept of peace has experienced a significant evolution. The Hebrew ‘salom’, Greek ‘eirene’ and Latin ‘pax’ originally meant a normal state of affairs, social justice, freedom and harmony. Medieval Christianity (T. Aquinas), recognised the divine origin of states and thus preached the sacralisation of warfare. In the late medieval period, the mounting pressure from Islamic civilization and the need to end internecine conflicts between Christian states spurred interest in the study of peace. During the Enlightenment, thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes viewed the social contract as a means to overcome the ‘war of all against all’ and to establish the state as the guarantor of peace. The German philosopher I. Kant proposed the concept of ‘perpetual peace’, suggesting that the establishment of an ideal political system and a federation of states were to lead to universal peace. In the nineteenth century, three main areas of war analysis emerged: ‘pacifism’, “apologetics” and ‘pluralism’. Supporters of pacifism believed that warfare caused immense suffering to humanity and should be rejected as a legitimate social practice. Apologists for war, often influenced by social Darwinism, argued that conflict was an inherent aspect of human society, with warfare representing the highest manifestation of the struggle for survival. Pluralists, associated with a range of socio-political ideologies from evolutionism to Marxism, acknowledged the historically positive role of warfare in shaping societies. However, they regarded war as a vestige of barbarism and anticipated its eventual disappearance. W. Wilson’s political idealism emphasized the right of peoples to self-determination and the belief that lasting peace among states depended on how international relations were organized. He also advocated for the establishment of an international organization charged with maintaining global peace and adopting a disarmament program. In the early twentieth century, the concept of peace was largely understood as merely the absence of war. It focused on specific conditions for resolving international conflicts, but had not become the subject of scientific inquiry.