Global Violence and a Just World Order

Abstract

Conceptualizing a just and humane world order in terms of the minimization of violence in both a narrow (direct/physical) and broad (indirect/structural) sense, this paper suggests an 'epidemiological approach' to the study of the global security problematique. Based on a broad and integrated notion of 'social health', as found in the Constitution of the World Health Organization, the paper argues that war/peace needs to be more broadly understood in terms of the domestic and international structures and processes at work. Specifically, the paper (1) examines the dynamics of global violence in both ideological and structural dimensions, (2) evaluates the consequences of global violence in terms of its life-destroying, life-diminishing, life-devaluing, and life-degrading effects in four world order value domains, and (3) explains the global security problematique as a cluster of interwoven and interacting conceptual, normaltive, psychological, and structural variables that together sustain the maladaptive elite behavior of pursuing 'peace' by preparing for war. By way of conclusion, the paper briefly assesses the prospect of a relevant utopia (a demilitarized world order) and suggests five 'principled processes' that should guide our journey from here to there, the world order transition to a more peaceful, humane, just, and safe future.