Category Archives: Introductions

Women and Peace, A Bad Treaty, and the Collapse of Complex Societies

International Journal on World Peace Posted on by

Introduction to IJWP, March 2014 The first two articles of this issue of IJWP are related to women and non-violent strategies for peace. The first article, by Komlan Agbedahin, is about an attempt by women in Togo to use a sex strike to end the country’s political impasse. The concept dates back to the ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata by Aristophanes, first presented publicly in 411 b.c. More recently, a sex strike had been used with … Continue reading →

Boko Haram and the State Imposition of Group Values

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Introduction to IJWP, December 2013 This issue of IJWP has two articles related to the Boko Haram group in Northern Nigeria and an article on child labor in Uzbekistan. Boko Haram is a northern Nigerian Islamist group that has killed thousands in campaigns of terror against Christians and others. It has sought the implementation of Shari’ah law in Nigeria and it is part of a growing alliance of international Islamist groups, spreading its influence beyond … Continue reading →

Conflict Resolution and Virtue

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Introduction to IJWP, September 2013 This issue of IJWP has three articles that look at conflict: types of conflict, conflict mediation, and the relation of virtue to conflict. The first article, “Haig’s ‘Waterloo’: Lessons from a Failure in International Mediation” is a study of why and how Alexander Haig failed to negotiate a resolution to the conflict between the United Kingdom and Argentina in the dispute over the Falkland Islands. “Haig’s ‘Waterloo,’” provides a strong … Continue reading →

Rights and Abilities

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Introduction to IJWP, June 2013 This issue of IJWP has articles on three different topics: Political stability in Chechnya, treatment of women in Pakistan, and bullying in U.S. schools. While these are quite different topics, they all relate to the general issue of rights and abilities. Our global culture promotes concepts of human rights and democracy through the United Nations, the mass media, and many NGOs. However, human rights and democracy cannot be obtained without … Continue reading →

Transparency and Peace

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Introduction to IJWP, March 2013 “Do not ask for transparency from others unless you have provided transparency to them.”—Anderson’s Golden Rule of Transparency(1) This issue of IJWP has articles on three different topics: Transparency in government, competition for energy resources, and peace in the Qur’an. Transparency is a major issue for  all social institutions, not just government, because it is an essential aspect of legitimacy in an age where there are many large, complex, and … Continue reading →

Natural Nations and Abstract States

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Introduction to IJWP, December 2012 Conflicts are produced when great powers or international organizations draw arbitrary state boundaries over areas occupied by tribal and national cultural groups. When this happens, homogeneous groups that have lived together for many generations, and that have had their identity formed by shared values and laws suddenly find themselves divided and forced to live with other tribes or national groups that hold different values. Imposed abstract state boundaries divide natural … Continue reading →

Corruption and Instability in Xinjiang, Pakistan, and Nigeria

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Introduction to IJWP, September 2012 This issue examines three states where there is political instability; Xinjiang province, Pakistan, and Nigeria. Xinjiang province is in Western China bordering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The largest ethnic group in the region is the Uyghurs, a Muslim group found in Central Asia, but Han Chinese are the majority in the cities. As in the case of the Tibetan Buddhists, tension exists between the Uyghurs, who do not … Continue reading →

Moral Principles and Governance

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Introduction to IJWP, June 2012 This issue looks at the thorny problem of how social ideals and rationally grounded moral principles can guide the structures and institutions of governance. This is no small feat in our age of political realism, power politics, national self-interest, and the general temptations of power and money. Washington DC lobbying, US elections, geopolitical nuclear politics, suicide bombing, and corrupt governments around the world are all signs that rational principles, such … Continue reading →

The Arab Spring A Year Later

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Introduction to IJWP, March 2012 This issue focuses on the “Arab Spring” after a year has passed and three regimes in the Arab world have been toppled by waves of popular protests begun on December 18, 2010, when a Tunisian man in a remote village immolated himself. These changes are born out of frustration and idealism, and fuelled by new forms of communication like cell phones and the internet. However, the future of these countries … Continue reading →

Peace in an Imbalanced World

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Introduction to IJWP, December 2011 This issue of IJWP contains three articles that reveal some of the toughest challenges to peace that relate to imbalances in power, imbalances in wealth, and imbalances in the treatment of individuals and groups. Our first article, by Nasreen Akhtar, is an analysis of Pakistan-US relations that, in many respects, complements the article on “The Obama Administration’s Strategy in Afghanistan” in the September 2011 issue of IJWP. It presents a … Continue reading →