OUP is publishing a book on the
evolution of the international peace architecture.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The guiding principle of
peacemaking and peacebuilding over the past quarter century has been
"liberal peace": the promotion of democracy, capitalism, law, and
respect for human rights. These components represent a historic effort to
prevent a reoccurrence of the nationalism, fascism, and economic collapse that
led to the World Wars as well as many later conflicts. Ultimately, this
strategy has been somewhat successful in reducing war between countries, but it
has failed to produce legitimate and sustainable forms of peace at the domestic
level. The goals of peacebuilding have changed over time and place, but they
have always been built around compromise via processes of intervention aimed at
supporting "progress" in conflict-affected countries. They have
simultaneously promoted changes in the regional and global order.
As Oliver P. Richmond argues in
this book, the concept of peace has evolved continuously through several eras:
from the imperial era, through the states-system, liberal, and current
neoliberal eras of states and markets. It holds the prospect of developing
further through the emerging "digital" era of transnational networks,
new technologies, and heightened mobility. Yet, as recent studies have shown,
only a minority of modern peace agreements survive for more than a few years
and many peace agreements and peacebuilding missions have become intractable,
blocked, or frozen. This casts a shadow on the legitimacy, stability, and
effectiveness of the overall international peace architecture, reflecting
significant problems in the evolution of an often violently contested
international and domestic order.
This book examines the
development of the international peace architecture, a "grand design"
comprising various subsequent attempts to develop a peaceful international
order. Richmond examines six main theoretical-historical stages in this process
often addressed through peacekeeping and international mediation, including the
balance of power mechanism of the 19th Century, liberal internationalism after
World War I, and the expansion of rights and decolonization after World War II.
It also includes liberal peacebuilding after the end of the Cold War,
neoliberal statebuilding during the 2000s, and an as yet unresolved current
"digital" stage. They have produced a substantial, though fragile,
international peace architecture. However, it is always entangled with, and hindered
by, blockages and a more substantial counter-peace framework. The Grand Design
provides a sweeping look at the troubled history of peace processes,
peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding, and their effects on the
evolution of international order. It also considers what the next stage may
bring.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oliver P. Richmond is a Research
Professor in International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies in the
Department of Politics at the University of Manchester, UK. He is International
Professor at Dublin City University, Ireland, Distinguished Visiting Professor
at the University of Tubingen, Germany, and a Visiting Professor at the
University of Coimbra, Portugal. His publications include Peace Formation and
Political Order in Conflict Affected Societies and Failed Statebuilding. He is
editor of the Palgrave book series, Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies, and
co-editor of the journal, Peacebuilding.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: The Age of
Intervention and the Emergence of a 20th Century International Peace
Architecture
Part I: The Early Evolution of
the International Peace Architecture
Chapter I: Some Background
Observations, Theory, and Concepts
Chapter II: A Sketch of the
International Peace Architecture
Chapter III: Stages One and Two
in the Development of the International Peace Architecture
Chapter IV: Stage Two: The Rise
of Liberal Constitutionalism and Liberal Internationalism
Chapter V: Stages Three and Four
and the Expansion of Rights: The Critical Challenge to Stages One and Two
Part II: Derailment and
Bifurcation
Chapter VI: The Transition from
Stage Four to Stage Five of the International Peace Architecture
Chapter VII: The Derailment of
the Transition to Stage Five
Chapter VIII: Stage Five and
Neoliberal Statebuilding
Chapter IX: Stage Six: Updating
Emancipatory Peace or Revisiting Geopolitics?
Chapter X: Implications for
Different Elements of the Contemporary Peace Architecture
Conclusion: The Limits of the Old
and New Possibilities
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