“Liberal peace” as a concept and practice of conflict regulation

Abstract

The efforts of states to overcome conflicts in the world are marked by the formation of theoretical and practical approaches to solving the problems of peace. At the same time, Western countries' interventions in the social, political, and economic currents of the life of conflict societies often have mixed effects and have unforeseen consequences, and often become even a waste of resources.The purpose of the article is to identify the features of «liberal peace» as a concept and peacekeeping practice. An element of the liberal peace is the liberal consensus, when the main political and social forces have a one-vector vision of the dynamics towards peace. A similar approach, where the UN asa key international actor dominates sovereign states, can be interpreted in the spirit of neoliberalism, in the context of which state functions at the local level are subject to revisions by international political and financial forces.A problematic issue is also the imposition of a model of a liberal state for transitional societies, which is difficult enough at the same time to synchronize economic, political and social reforms. At the same time, the desire of peacekeeping organizations to quickly ensure, and most importantly, to report on the outcome, can only hurt and discredit the idea of peace.The liberal peace has been criticized for unilateralism and top-down imposition, pattern and monotony, and the inability to deal with the structural causes of the conflict. In this context, the IKEA liberal peace is referred to as a standard set of measures that is shipped «in the box» to the recipient country. In this respect, the liberal peace also contradicts local peacekeeping practices and traditions, because it does not take into account the socio-cultural context of a society in which reconciliation and involvement of local agents can occur.Ukraine needs to take into account the nuances and experience of implementing the liberal peace in conflict resolution in the world. An optimal model for the success of peacekeeping activities is the combination of Western standards of peacekeeping with local practices to combat violence. Ukraine should emerge as an active and sovereign entity in resolving the confrontation in the Donbas. Facilitation within the community, identification and satisfaction of the needs and interests of the victims of the conflict, comprehensive and coherent information policies of the state should be implemented by the state relatively regardless of the capabilities and assistance of international donors in the context of national peace, which usually does not deny its liberal and civilizational components.