Thinking about World Peace. Issue 1 (2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bellamy, Alex J.
• Is Part Of: Ethics & international affairs. Volume 34:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 47
• Page End: 56
• Publication Date: 2020
• Subjects: world peace, -- war, -- violence, -- justice, -- world politics; International relations -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Periodicals; 172.405
• DOI: 10.1017/S0892679420000027
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0892-6794

Abstract

Abstract: For as long as humans have fought wars, we have been beguiled and frustrated by the prospect of world peace. Only a very few of us today believe that world peace is possible. Indeed, the very mention of the term "world peace" raises incredulity. In contrast, as part of the roundtable "World Peace (And How We Can Achieve It), " this essay makes the case for taking world peace more seriously. It argues that world peace is possible, though neither inevitable nor irreversible. World peace, I argue, is something that every generation must strive for, because the ideas, social structures, and practices that make war possible are likely to remain with us. The essay proceeds in three parts. First, I briefly set out what I mean by peace and world peace. Second, I explain why I think that world peace is possible. Third, I examine how the world might be nudged in a more peaceful direction.