When War is Peace: Peacebuilding in an Era of Warfare

Authors

Josh Berkenpas, Western Michigan UniversityFollow

Abstract

A first step in constituting an international regime of peace is to construct a reliable cross-national map of the global order supporting continuous warfare. I examine the case of the conflict in Syria as a demonstration of the truly global nature of the conflict and the way that a multitude of state, corporate, and non-state actors are profiting from the war. I develop a case study of the war in Syria in order to highlight the nature of “new war” and the complexity of the situation, including the issue of arming rebels by the U.S. and other states. I follow Mary Kaldor’s (2012) account of a “globalized war economy,” and her call for a “cosmopolitan politics” to regulate it. Along with Kaldor, I argue for the building of an effective international regime of peace to regulate the global war industry. I argue that the power needed to establish and maintain such an international regime for peace will depend on an effective peace movement that crosses state borders and effectively works against the dominance of the international arms industry.

Recommended Citation

Berkenpas, Josh (2016) "When War is Peace: Peacebuilding in an Era of Warfare," The Hilltop Review: Vol. 8: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/hilltopreview/vol8/iss2/4