The concept of '''peace''' ranks among the most controversial in our time. Peace undoubtedly carries a positive connotation; almost nobody admits to opposing peace; World_peace is widely seen as one of the most noble goals of humanity. Various groups, however, differ sharply about what peace entails, how best to achieve peace, and whether peace is even truly possible. ==What is peace?== Peace is many things: the meaning of the word peace changes with context. Peace may refer specifically to an agreement concluded to end a war, or to a lack of external warfare, or to a period when a country's armies are not fighting enemies. It can also refer more generally to quietude, such as that common at night or in remote areas, allowing for sleep or meditation. Peace can be an emotion or internal state. And finally, peace can be any combination of these definitions. A person's conception of "peace" is often the product of culture and upbringing. People of different cultures sometimes disagree about the meaning of the word, and so do people within any given culture. Peace is not a symbol, peace is a mindset. ===Absence of war=== A simple and narrow definition of peace entails the absence of War. (The ancient Romans defined peace, ''Pax'', as ''Absentia Belli'', the ''absence of war''.) The maintenance of longstanding peace between Nations ranks among the few great successes of the United_Nations. Peace can be voluntary, where potential agitators choose to abstain from disturbance, or it can be enforced, by suppressing those who might otherwise cause such disturbance. A hard stance on neutrality has given Switzerland fame as a country for its long-lasting peace. Sweden, however, presently has the longest history of continuous peace. Since its 1814 invasion of Norway, the Swedish kingdom has not engaged in military-style external violence. ===Absence of violence or of evil; presence of justice=== Constraining the concept of peace strictly to the absence of international war masks internal Genocide, Terrorism, and other Violence. Few would describe the Congolese genocide of the 1890s as an example of peace, even though it technically occurred within the personal domain of King Léopold of the Belgians. Some, therefore, define "peace" as an absence of violence: not merely the absence of war, but also of Evil. Many believe that peace is more than the absence of certain societal maladies. From this perspective, peace requires not only the absence of violence but also the presence of justice, as articulated by Martin_Luther_King,_Jr. In this conception, a society in which one group is oppressed by another lacks peace even in the absence of violence, because the oppression itself constitutes evil. ===Plural peaces=== Some "peace thinkers" choose to abandon the idea of one definition of peace; rather, they promote the idea of many peaces. They think that no singular, correct definition of peace can exist; peace, therefore, should be seen as a plurality. For example, in the Great Lakes region of Africa, the word for peace is ''kindoki'', which refers to a harmonious balance between human beings, the rest of the natural world, and the cosmos. This is a much more broad vision of peace than a mere "absence of war" or even a "presence of justice" standard. Many of these same thinkers also critique the idea of peace as a hopeful or eventual end. They recognize that peace does not necessarily have to be something the humans might achieve "some day." They contend that peace exists, we can create and expand it in small ways in our everyday lives, and peace changes constantly. This view makes peace permeable and imperfect rather than static and utopian. ===Peace and quiet=== In some contexts, peace refers more generally to a state of Quiet or Tranquility--an absence of disturbance or agitation. Those who travel to remote, rural areas often notice the striking difference in the noise level between the cities and the countryside; hence the term "peace and quiet". Conflict that occurs in nature, however, often produces sounds. When animals fight, the surrounding forest can become even ''more'' silent, as the non-engaged animals warily await the outcome. After a conflict, the normal sounds and actions of the inhabitants eventually reappear. ===Inner peace=== One meaning of peace refers to Inner_peace; a state of mind, body and soul, which is said to take place within ourselves. People that experience inner peace say that the feeling is not dependent on time, people or place, asserting that an individual may experience inner peace even in the midst of war. ==Environmental Peace== Many, if not most, Environmentalists consider protecting the environment to be a form of peace, if not the main form, as destroying habitats is quite arguably a form of violence and an "evil". ==Is violence necessary?== There is a wide spectrum of views about whether, and when, violence and War are necessary. Followers of Jainism, for example, go to great lengths to avoid harming even animals, and pacifists, such as Christian anarchists, see any sort of violence as self-perpetuating. Other groups take a wide variety of stances. ===Historical examples and counter examples=== Allied propaganda billed the Great_War in Europe as the "war to end all wars." Although the Allies won the war, the resulting "peace" Treaty_of_Versailles only set the stage for the even bloodier World_War_II. Before the Allied victory, the Bolsheviks promised the Russian people "peace, land, and bread." Although Vladimir_Lenin ended the disastrous war against the Central_Powers, the ensuing civil war resulted in a loss of over a million people. These failures illustrate the problems of using war in an effort to attain peace. Proponents of the Democratic_peace_theory claim that strong empirical evidence exists that Democracies rarely make war against each other. An increasing number of nations have become democratic since the Industrial_revolution, and thus, they claim World_peace may thus become possible if this trend continues. However, it can also be argued that this could equally be explained by a number of other factors related to the wealth, power, and stability of nations that tend to become democracies, ranging from becoming reliant on strong global Trade connections to Mutually_Assured_Destruction. ==Peacemakers== '''Peacemakers''' are people who have overcome entrenched violence and conflict through their Leadership and vision to achieve peace. ===Nobel Peace Prize=== ''Main article: Nobel_Peace_Prize'' The '''Nobel Peace Prize''' is awarded annually to notable persons, generally peacemakers and visionaries who have overcome notorious cycles in violence, conflict or oppression through their moral leadership, but also controversially former Warmongers and former Terrorists who it was believed had helped bring the world closer to ending such situations through exceptional concessions in the attempt to achieve peace. Here is a partial list of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. *Theodore_Roosevelt (1906 laureate); *Rev._Martin_Luther_King,_Jr. (1964 laureate); *Henry_Kissinger and Le_Duc_Tho (joint 1973 laureates); *Mohamed_Anwar_Al-Sadat (1978 laureate); *Mother_Teresa (1979 laureate); *Nelson_Mandela and Former President Frederik_Willem_de_Klerk (joint 1993 laureates); *Yasser_Arafat, Shimon_Peres and Yitzhak_Rabin (1994 laureates); *John_Hume and David_Trimble (joint 1998 laureates); *Wangari_Maathai (2004 laureate). ==Quotes== {{wikiquote}} * From Rev._Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.'s ''Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail'': ::"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of Justice." * From Henry_Timrod, known as ''The Poet Laureate of the Confederacy'', who wrote passionate Poems that caused many young men to enlist in the Confederate Army of the American_Civil_War. But after seeing for himself the horrors of war, he wrote this poignant Prayer for peace: ::"Not all the darkness of the land, can hide the lifted eye and hand; Nor need the clanging conflict cease, to make Thee hear our cries for peace." * For more peace quotes, please see http://peaceforge.digitalunleashed.com/moin.cgi/PeaceQuotes ==See also== ''Peace'' * Peace_camp : form of nonviolent protest. * Peace_churches : Christian groups in the pacifist tradition. * Peace_movement : social movement that seeks achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or all wars), minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. * Peace_process : describes efforts by interested parties to effect a lasting solution to long-running conflicts. * Peace_symbol : representation or object that has come to symbolize peace. * Peace_treaty : agreement (a peace treaty) between two hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a war or armed conflict. * World_peace : future ideal of freedom, peace and happiness among and within all nations. ''Human condition and beliefs'' * Christian_anarchism : belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answerable, the authority of God as embodied in the teachings of Jesus. * Democratic_peace_theory : theory in politics and political science which holds that democracies—specifically, liberal democracies—never or almost never go to war with one another. * Inner_peace (or peace of mind) : colloquialism that refers to a state of being mentally or spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep onself strong in the face of discord or stress. * Nonviolence : set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. * Pacifism : opposition to the use of force to settle disagreements, specifically the taking up of arms in war. * Peace_and_Conflict_Studies : interdisciplinary inquiry into war as human condition and peace as human potential, as an alternative to the traditional Polemology and the strategies taught at Military academies. * Satyagraha : philosophy of non-violent resistance most famously employed by Mahatma_Gandhi. * Utopia : hypothetical perfect society. ''Things'' * Japanese_Peace_Bell : gift of the people of Japan ("People of Nippon") to the United Nations on June_8 1954. * Nobel_Peace_Prize : one of five Nobel Prizes requested by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. ''Organizations'' * American_Friends_Service_Committee : religious Society of Friends (Quaker) affiliated organization which works for social justice, peace and reconciliation, abolition of the death penalty, and human rights, and provides humanitarian relief. * Peacekeeping : personnel units of the United Nations deployed as a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace. * United_States_Department_of_Peace : proposed cabinet-level department of the executive branch of the U.S. government. ''Lists'' * List_of_places_named_after_peace * Projects_working_for_peace_among_Israelis_and_Arabs : many projects that work to create a peaceful and productive co-existence between Israelis and Arabs including the Palestinians. ==References== * Letter from Birmingham Jail by Rev._Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.. ==External links== * Biggest Link List on Peace - Better World Links * ACT for the Earth * Peace Forge -Wiki wiki forum and best practice database on peace and conflict resolution * Official homepage of the Niwano Peace Foundation * Carnegie Endowment for International Peace * (See Peace) Resource Center for Peace * Peace in Action- Share and collaborate with peacemakers * Nonviolence.org * Peace Action (a U.S. organization) * The ACTivist Magazine * Students for Peace * Foundation for P.E.A.C.E. * Boise Peace Quilt Project * A.J. Muste Memorial Institute - A.J. Muste: legendary peacemaker * 10,000 Kites - A peace project aimed at Israelis and Palestinians. * Seeds of Peace International Youth Organization * Cry For Peace - Promotiong peace through art and music * Save The Rainforest For Free * University of Innsbruck: MA Program in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation * Peaceworkers.UK- UK organisation providing training for Peaceworkers * Mesoamerican Peace Project Category:Core_issues_in_ethics Category:International_relations Category:Personal_life Ca:Pau Cs:Mír De:Frieden Es:Paz Eo:Paco Fr:Paix Id:Kedamaian It:Pace He:שלום Ka:მშვიდობა La:Pax Lt:Taika Hu:Béke Nl:Vrede Ja:平和 Pl:Pokój Pt:Paz Simple:Peace Sk:Mier Sr:Мир Sv:Fred Wa:Påye Zh:和平