![]() Much of what we know about the systemic qualities of peace derives originally from the classic study of inter-state war. The most prominent dimension of violence is lethal violence, and the most dramatic form of lethal violence is organized, military action, or war. There are many dimensions to violence but only a few are currently measureable at the holistic, global level. At the more general "individual-level of analysis" the quality of peace contrasts directly with the total incidence of violence in the global system, that is, a "human security" perspective. At the "state-level of analysis" this distinguishes peace from war (and "not-war"), which is a conditional event, and security and insecurity, which are relative terms. The quality of peace can not be improved simply by displacing violence and war to a different setting, or separate category, or by concentrating misfortunes with the less fortunate (ghetto-ization). Peace is an absolute term and, therefore, a universal condition. ![]() Measuring systemic peace is a necessarily holistic endeavor. Without that, progress toward greater peace can not be gauged and social policies can not be properly evaluated. Perhaps, the most important, and challenging, task for the peace researcher is to establish and maintain a systematic perspective on the general condition of peace in the global system. ![]() Global Conflict Trends graphs now being updated to include information through the year 2009 This web page was last updated on September 11, 2010 ![]()
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