Peaceful Order Research Articles

Cultural Politics Through the Eyes of Mohajir Women

This article draws on qualitative research to examine Mohajir women’s construction of and understanding of their ethnopolitical Mohajir identity in the port city of Karachi, Pakistan, The Mohajir identity is constructed around a shared language amongst individuals with historically diverse backgrounds, and has proven to be a potent yet divisive ethnopolitical identity. The article argues that in order to assuage the grievances of the Mohajirs, sociopolitical steps such as elimination of the job quota system must be taken by the government in order for sustainable peace to be achieved.

JERZY GIEDROYC AND THE UKRAINIAN QUESTION IN THE COLD WAR PERIOD

Despite efforts of the Soviet Union authorities to make Ukraine an integral part, historical circumstances and prominent personalities have influenced preservation of memory of its history and political ambitions. The end of the Second World War led to redistribution of spheres of influence between the two superpowers. Their relationships for a long period were characterized as the Cold War. In difficult conditions of ideological and political confrontation, several emigrant centers were formed; Paris was one of the most influential ones. Prolonged journalistic and socio-political activity of a brilliant intellectual Jerzy Giedroyc is associated with the French center of Polish emigrationThe article deals with the main components of Jerzy Giedroyc' activity as the editor of the journal "Culture". In fact, until the destruction of the Soviet Union, the journal remained the most authoritative in émigré and dissident circles. On its pages there was an intense literary, historical and political debate, and the representatives of the opposition forces of the Warsaw Pact were able to publish their work.The particular Giedroyc' merit is associated with a new formulation of the Ukrainian issue and the formation of the circle of supporters of its ideas. Due to his conception, the idea of Ukraine statehood received special support; it joined the efforts of Ukrainians and Poles to implement independence. The cooperation of the editor of "Culture" with the Ukrainian emigration was extremely productive, the term "Executed Renaissance ", as well as the idea of creating an anthology of works of representatives of this generation, belong to him.Jerzy Giedroyc together with accomplices developed the conception of the Central and Eastern Europe transformation to overcome totalitarianism, establish peace and democratic order. The pages of "Culture" published material substantiating the conceptions of the federation of the countries of the Inter-Sea (a federation of territories between the three seas - the Adriatic, Baltic and Black).Jerzy Giedroyc’s ideas were condemned in socialist Poland, and they were absolutely seditious in the Soviet Union. Despite ambiguous attitude towards the idea of the Ukrainian independence among the Polish figures, gradually, thanks to Jerzy Giedroyc activity, it found support in opposition circles of Poland.The evidence of efficiency of Giedroyc’s activity was «The Declaration on the Ukrainian Cause» signed by the representatives of the Polish, Russian, Czech and Hungarian emigration in 1977. The declaration later became the basis for the establishment of the national states in the CEE.

Institutionalizing the Global Order of Peace

Far from being an obsolete and unsubstantial premise for shaping the 21 st century reality, the global order of peace paradigm is a necessary tool for the pursuit of some major targets in building a non-conflict type of society. This paradigm is adequate to fulfill the basic international needs of this century: stability, mutual trust and a general will to reduce the military race (and focus on creating complex new architectures of global security and reinforcing the binding spirit of the old 20 th century international treaties, instead). Conceiving and implementing new institutions, designed especially for responding to the global, asymmetrical crisis and conflicts of 21 st century (such as urban terrorism, migratory massive fluxes, climate changes and rapid global responses to global or major natural /technological catastrophes and pandemics etc.) entail preparing adequately for the un-conventional order of 21 st century. Despite claims of necessity to return to the benefits of the Westphalian old formula, the 21 st century real order will never be again a classical, predictable, simple order of nations-states, built according to the traditional Westphalian model. Instead, we will be forced to face a dynamic, even turbulent, chaotic and multi-layered order, changing permanently its belts of security and prosperity, from one region to another. It is a changing order and nobody can predict where this order will move its chain of stability and prosperity, also due to the lack of adequate, global, un-conventional institutions. How to cite: Antonescu, V. M. (2017). Institutionalizing the Global Order of Peace. Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty, Section: Law, V (2), 5-15. https://doi.org/10.18662/lumenlaw.1

The Victim of Violence – between the Law and the Aggressor

Unlike the Old Criminal Code, where the physical integrity, health of the person and the social relations in connection to them were protected by the existence of three laws - Percussion and other violence, bodily injury and serious bodily injury, in the actual Criminal Code, these social values are the legal object of two crimes - Percussion and other violence and Body Injury. Without substituting the lawyers, we propose in this article a discussion of these aspects and the consequences that can be derived from them, consequences that we, as legal practitioners, quantify for the purpose of legal framing of the act. How to cite: Hunea, I., Damian, S.I., Knieling, A., David, S., Diac, M.M., Bulgaru Iliescu, D. (2017). Institutionalizing the Global Order of Peace. Logos Universality Mentality Education Novelty, Section: Law, V (2), 17-25. https://doi.org/10.18662/lumenlaw.2

Peacekeepers, Cred, and the Street

Drawing upon qualitative data gathered during protests at the 2008 Republican National Convention, secondary sources of Black Lives Matter, and Trump and anti-Trump rallies, I examine the collective interests, ideology, and role performances of a seldom studied group involved in demonstrations—“peacekeepers.” My findings suggest that as members of this group attempt to create a peaceful order between police and protesters on the street, their activities are marked by a unique set of contradictions. These contradictions emerge as a result of two primary roles—those of crisis workers and “human involvement shields”—performed by peacekeepers, as they attempt to build and leverage credibility with both protesters and police. I theorize this process by outlining phases of interaction— milling, miming, and crossing—between peacekeepers and these groups once peacekeepers are out on the street.

Peacebuilding upside down? How a peace community in Colombia builds peace despite the state

Critics explain the modest success of liberal peacebuilding with the neglect of local particularities. While the local is upgraded in concepts like local ownership, the role of the state and the direction of peace operations remain untouched. Following normative models of Western states, most peacebuilding practitioners and scholars assume that the state has an interest in peaceful public order, while local actors are deemed to have no potential for peace transformation. Anthropological concepts assume that the state is not a monolithic entity. Neither is the state seen as having an a priori purpose for existence. This approach allows for the analysis of certain state practices as rational that, from the perspective of normative state models, might appear dysfunctional, e.g. human rights violations by armed forces. In the 50 years of ongoing conflict in Colombia, some state institutions and regional elites seem unwilling to promote a peaceful public order throughout the country. Paradoxically, it is in these conflict regions that some communities have created strategies to increase their safety. Drawing on the Peace Community of San Jose de Apartado, I will show how these communities develop the potential for peace as their strategies for self-protection counteract conflict causes.

IMPLEMENTASI SYARIAT ISLAM SEBAGAI SOLUSI UNTUK MENGATASI KRISIS LINGKUNGAN

Multidimensional crisis that happens now needs to be overcome by human being. The root of the crisis is the loss of spiritual values in human civilization. At present, the awareness of returning transcendent values in human life is appeared. These values are manifested in religious teaching that exists in sharī’at. In a row with shumūliyat al-Islam , sharī’at covers various life dimensions. The objective of sharī’at is to manifest peace, just, compatible, harmonious, and welfare life order. So, the implementation of sharī’at is a solution that is needed to be thought to overcome multidimensional crisis that happens now. This article tries to discuss about it.

Front włoski z czasów Wielkiej Wojny w zapiskach autobiograficznych Karola Bergera i Jerzego Alfreda Tomasza Kossowskiego

<p>Wielka Wojna to „konflikt zbrojny, który radykalnie zmienił oblicze dziewiętnastowiecznego świata”. Dawny porządek spokoju i nadziei rozpadł się. Nic, co wydawało się trwałe i niezmienne, po tym wielkim starciu nie wróciło już na swoje miejsce, nie było już bowiem żadnego „swojego miejsca”. Polska w chwili wybuchu Wielkiej Wojny pozostawała pod zaborami, podzielona pomiędzy Rosję, Niemcy i Austrię, była pozbawiona własnej państwowości. Polacy, nie mogąc o sobie niezależnie stanowić, zostali przymusowo wcielani do wojska zaborcy w zależności od terytorium, jakie zamieszkiwali; zmuszono ich do przywdziania uniformów obcych, zaborczych armii, w konsekwencji musieli do siebie strzelać i wzajemnie się zabijać. Wojna 1914–1918 to jednak pierwszy konflikt, w którym bezpośrednio zaangażowali się wszyscy trzej zaborcy, w związku z czym zrodziła ona wśród Polaków głęboką nadzieję na odzyskanie niepodległości. Służba w armii austro-węgierskiej początkowo nie przynosiła ujmy Polakom ze względu na prowadzoną przez Wiedeń politykę pozwalającą na zachowanie w jakimś stopniu „narodowego statusu”, ale sytuacja zmieniła się drastycznie wraz upływem czasu. Karol Berger i Jerzy Alfred Kossowski, uczestnicy i świadkowie walk na froncie włoskim, w swoich autobiograficznych zapisach przedstawili nam szczegółowe opisy tego frontu, które obnażają tragedię walk tam rozgrywanych, ale jednocześnie ujawnili okrucieństwo samej wojny. Uświadamiamy sobie jednak, że Polacy, a konkretnie Berger, czynili wszystko, aby oswoić tamtą straszną wojnę i nadać jej w miarę możliwości jakieś ludzkie oblicze, stworzyć choćby surogat życia i normalnego współistnienia. Dzięki Kossowskiemu i jego działaniom podczas pierwszej wojny światowej nie doszło do zbombardowania Wenecji, a dokładniej samego jej serca, tj. Placu św. Marka z jego Bazyliką. Zapiski autobiograficzne, o których mowa, pokazują, jak bardzo obu uczestnikom wojennych zmagań drogi był mit Italii i jak wiele robili, aby nie pozwolić się zniszczyć machinie zła. Zarówno przez drobne gesty (postawa Bergera) czy spektakularne działania (postawa Kossowskiego) czynili wszystko, aby opanować „nieopanowane” okrucieństwo wojny.</p>

How to Construe a Myth: Neutrality within the United Nations System Under Special Consideration of the Austrian Case

In the 19th century neutrality was a highly appreciated concept. In the 20th century it has widely lost relevance and in principle it should be incompatible with UN membership. However, also under the UN system some states have opted for neutrality and it can be argued that there is still space for this status within the universal peace order. In fact, this peace order is far from perfect. There are several lacunae in the prohibition of the use of force and this concept is open to different interpretations. New challenges, such as international terrorism, are emerging that could threaten the absolute prohibition of the use of force. It is contended here that neutrals could play an important role when it comes to find an interpretation of this prohibition that best could reconcile the goals of peace and security with the overall - still imperfect - structure of the UN system. These questions are analysed with primary reference to Austrian neutrality which on the hand seems obsolete but on the other is forcefully looking for a new meaning.

Exploring the Concept of Torture: An Analysis of Kashmir Valley

AbstIndia is considered as world’s largest democracy. The country has a civil society, free media, and independent judiciary. Still, the country is engaged in quotidian violence like torture, which is widely prevalent in the name of national security, investigation crimes, extracting information and punishing criminals. Torture is an instrument of state power in an authoritarian system which applies all means to silence the political opponents or bend them towards rule of law. Nevertheless, torture occurs in the democratic countries in which rule of law is highly respected likely in maintaining peace and public order, national security and fight against terrorism. It is clear that in democracy when the rights of an individual have been weakened and are on the mercy of those who are in power, the result is that quotidian violence and other cruel punishments can occur. Torture is a brutal method of social and political control which relies on complex networks of technology, training, facilitators and perpetrators. It demands classified structures located within enclaves of barbarism in order to achieve its aim of inducing terror. Modern states have built burgeoning detention facilities like immigration centers, prisons and police cells that engage in torture and other cruel, inhuman treatments. The law enforcement agencies engage in torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment in the name of counter-terrorism, security threats and soon. The states use violence like methods to control and terrorize its people to maintain the status quo or to destroy internal or external political, ideological or military threats. The state uses torture and makes it clear that enhanced interrogation techniques make a person from kidnapping to extraordinary rendition, from citizen to unlawful enemy combatant and from human to terrorist. The valley of Kashmir faces torture and other cruel inhuman treatments since the insurgency began in 1990’s, with the violent uprising and have elicited terrorism. Methods of torture are used as a tool of counter-insurgency by Indian security forces. The government of India used all efforts to crush the movement of self-determination of Kashmir. The strong response from India violates the human rights and international humanitarian laws. The law enforcement agencies, army, and para-military forces have engaged in reprisal attacks against civilians resulting in indiscriminate firing, search operations, gang-rapes and burning of houses in the valley. After 1990, the situation in the Kashmir valley deteriorated and Kashmir was declared a disturbed area and laws like Disturbed Area Act (DAA) 1990, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 1990 and Public Safety Act (PSA) 1978 were imposed. The purpose of the paper is to examine the concept of Torture in Kashmir.

Transcendence of the Negative: Günther Anders’ Apocalyptic Phenomenology

When the apocalyptic is marginalized, not only is theology under threat of malpractice, but phenomenology is also, for at the core of apocalyptic thinking is the attempt to restrain the totalities that are at work implicitly in our social imaginaries. Most totalities are subtle, appearing even in efforts of unification through global peace. One might extract such insight from Günther Anders, who depicts an immanent, apocalyptic reality beyond the pale of bourgeois optimism and the theological imaginaries that enervate it. We have fallen out of imaginative touch with our everyday activities, and this has resulted in an apocalyptic blindness (Apokalypse-Blindheit) and optimism rooted in abstraction. Such blindness has degraded our “conscience” into “conscientiousness” to the point that even the Hiroshima bomber can abstract from his actions and be exempted easily from responsibility. Although a kind of phenomenologist, Anders criticized colleagues who, in the name of “presuppositionlessness” and observation, could abstract their thoughts far from the reality in which they lived and acted. This paper provides a general introduction to Anders’ work and interprets his “Transcendence of the Negative” in order to demonstrate the values of “apocalyptic phenomenology” today. Anders extends a Levinasian eschatology of anticipation (which is precisely of that which one cannot “expect”) and demonstrates how transcendence, which typically is understood only in its positive element, also holds the capacity for turning a blind eye to the negative sociality of action. This transcendence often fuels a false optimism for an order of global peace and oneness, which inherently brings about an apocalyptic age, for it ends at “one” and eliminates any “outside”. Apocalyptic phenomenology can be one way to disrupt this tendency of blind abstraction by attending to “unveiling” (apokalypsis) itself, attuning our “conscience” to the level of concern proportionate to the threats that stand before it, and becoming “restrainers” of what Anders calls “annihilism.

The importance of the political order for peace

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the issue of security challenges in the selected states in Eurasia and Central and Eastern Europe from the perspective of peace and politics. Since the security situation differs significantly across the sub-regions under scrutiny, the main objective of the current research is to establish and test a theoretical model of relevant combinations of political factors and their relation to peace. The theoretical framework has been designed by following Fukuyama’s idea of political order and upgraded with the newly constructed index of social exclusion.Design/methodology/approachAccording to the objective and methodological gaps in this field, the paper applies comparative fuzzy set analysis. The method relies on the theoretical framework and empirical data and allows a constant communication between the two. It has allowed the research to focus on what conditions are necessary and/or sufficient for peace in the selected countries.FindingsIt is evident there are several different paths to achieve peace. However, the rule of law clearly constitutes both the necessary and sufficient conditions for peace in the selected regions. Moreover, the results of the research reveal that the concepts of interest are highly interlinked with each other, especially when it comes to the rule of law, state, and democratic accountability. Thus, further research should focus on in-depth analysis of each particular case to explore which conditions or combinations are decisive in particular setting.Originality/valueSuch findings can contribute to improving the areas where Eurasian countries are still lagging behind. Further research should focus on small but significant differences within these four groupings of countries, to improve the understanding of prerequisites for peace and contribute to the development of state and human security in the EU neighborhood.

LEGALNOŚĆ ŁADU JAŁTAŃSKO-POCZDAMSKIEGO Z PUNKTU WIDZENIA PRAWA MIĘDZYNARODOWEGO PUBLICZNEGO

THE LEGALITY OF THE YALTA AND POTSDAM LEGAL ORDER FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW Summary The Yalta and Potsdam agreements of 1945 created the so-called “new peaceful order” in Europe. The agreements contained three sorts of provisions. The provisions concerning solely the Great Three were legal. The clauses referring to the WW II aggressors were legal as well. However, the provisions referring to third countries which were not aggressors were null and void. Smaller states were forced to confirm the decisions of the Great Three. The problem is that only an aggressor can be forced to sign a treaty. In other cases the use of force causes invalidity of the treaty. In consequence, the Axis powers were punished lawfully whereas Poland lost its eastern territories unlawfully. Finland and Romania were qualified as aggressors, but in fact the Soviet Union acquired their territories first in 1940 as a result of an aggression and the threat of force. Every attempt at opposing the will of the Great Three was quashed. For instance, Polish government-in-exile was deprived of its effectiveness as it opposed the clauses mandating the loss of Polish Eastern territories. The Great Three were in breach of law in case of several provisions. They were not able to fully adhere to international law as one of the aggressors (the Soviet Union) participated in the creation of the post-war legal order. Therefore, the justice was nor fully served as the Soviet Union was not punished for its aggressions of 1939-1940. The consequences of the partially unlawful decisions of the Great Three linger even today causing international tensions particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

State Governance, Global Governance and the Construction of World Order

State governance and global governance are two intertwining aspects in the construction of world order. A peaceful, prosperous and equitable world order encompasses internal order of sovereign states and international order of the international systems. Effective state governance nurtures internal order of sovereign states, eschews internal disorder, and prevents the spillover of negative externality into the international systems. In this sense, state governance is the cornerstone for constructing world order. In the meantime, effective global governance constructs world order and assists sovereign states in constructing internal order. In the construction of world order, different actors in the international systems represented by sovereign states inter alia must cooperate with a view to dissolving conflicts of interests and policies among states, managing global public domain, responding to common challenges and sharing responsibilities in assisting internally disordered states to govern effectively. Since the reform and opening up, China has contributed its distinctive part to the construction of world order by means of responsible state governance and global partnership governance.

IMPLEMENTASI KEBIJAKAN PEMERINTAH KOTA CIREBON DALAM MENINGKATKAN KETERTIBAN PEDAGANG KAKI LIMA (Studi Kasus di Jl. Siliwangi Kota Cirebon)

ABSTRACT Street Vendors is a very complicated thing to ensure order. This became the basic tasks of municipal government in particular Cirebon Civil Service Police Unit to regulate street vendors, economic needs urgent that makes the street vendors sell on the road or on the sidewalk which should be forbidden by the local government area. The problem that arises if the implementation of policies regulating street vendors in the city of Cirebon can be increased in accordance with local regulations No. 9 of 2003 on Public Order policy on public order policy on public order by the local governments aimed so the vendors are supposed to walk not violate so as to create (Health, Beauty, and Order)The method used is qualitative research informant with the chairman of the peace and public order agencies Civil Service Police Unit Cirebon city and street vendors on the sidewalks and on the road in Jalan Siliwangi Cirebon City. Techniques of data collection using interviews, observation, data analysis, and data validity.Research results show that Control Policy Implementation street vendors in the city of Cirebon (status cases Jl. Siliwangi) is not optimal it is still a lot of problems including lack of regulatory policy on regulating local street vendors. Theories are taken using the theory of Van Meter and Van Horn include the size and purpose of the policy, resources, characteristics of the implementing agencies, communication between relevant organizations and implementing activities, social environment, political economy which is still unresolved due to the limited quality and quantity of the resources, the means, and infrastructure support order is not optimal.

An economic analysis of the philosophical common good

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyze economically several versions of the philosophical common good in order to contribute to the search for a viable conceptualization of the common good.Design/methodology/approach– The paper presents an economic analysis of the common good by examining the extent to which eight different versions of the philosophical concept possess the consumption characteristics of excludability and rivalry – and thus how each version may be classified as an economic good: private, public, common, or club.Findings– One of the examined versions of the philosophical common good is an economic common good; three versions are club goods; and four versions are public goods. Only those versions of the common good that are classifiable as public goods merit consideration as adequate conceptualizations in political and philosophical thought. In assessing the admissible versions the authors conclude that a viable conceptualization of the common good may simply be the maintenance of a peaceful social order that allows people to pursue their individual and collective goals in community.Originality/value– The paper shows that an analysis of the philosophical common good using the economic criteria of excludability and rivalry can contribute to common good discourse.

Religious References in the Constitutions of European Post-Communist Countries and Ethno-symbolism

The downfall of communism in Europe took place around 1989-1991, within a brief historical period. All the post-communist countries did away with their previous constitutions (which had sometimes been decorative in nature) and adopted new, post-communist constitutions. According to a Council of Europe membership count, there are twenty-three such countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and Serbia. The adoption of new constitutions in these countries occurred under the guidance of western European models, particularly as they were advanced by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).1 The 1990 document of the Copenhagen meeting of the OSCE on the “human dimension” was of particular relevance in guiding emerging post-communist constitutionalism, focusing on the idea of human rights guarantees and, more generally, on the rule of law. The participating states committed themselves to the idea “…that full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the development of societies based on pluralistic democracy and the rule of law are prerequisites for progress in setting up the lasting order of peace, security, justice and co-operation that they seek to establish in Europe.”2

Holiness in spirituality

This article investigates the keyword of ‘holiness’. It will analyse how holiness names and frames the field of spirituality in a specific manner. In this analysis, a phenomenological and dialogical approach will be compared and weighed, followed by a discussion of the paradigmatic method that will focus on themes from five biblical texts, namely the revelation of Jahwe’s name, the holiness of Jahwe’s people, the holiness of creation, the holy order of justice and peace and holiness as a mystagogical process. Some reflections will be offered in conclusion.

Reproducing Portuguese Villages in Africa: Agricultural Science, Ideology and Empire

This article examines the political and ideological uses of agronomic research, focusing on state-directed rural white settlements in Angola. Implemented ‘against the tide’, in the mid-1950s, with Angola’s African anti-colonial movement already under way, these schemes contained numerous contradictions. Under a modernising agenda, the Estado Novo dictatorship created the colonatos of Cela and Cunene, with the expressed purpose of reproducing Portuguese rural villages in Africa, settling poor Portuguese peasants and perpetuating colonial rule. Drawing on a range of primary sources from Portuguese colonial and scientific archives and the literature on Angola, I analyse the relationship between policymakers and the agricultural engineers mobilised to study the soils and its agricultural suitability in the regions chosen for the colonatos. I show that several experts criticised state-sponsored development of white rural settlements and exposed the policy’s drawbacks. I also place this particular example within the context of the existing literature on the history of science and development in post-war Africa. I will argue that the Portuguese version of the ‘developmentalist’ colonial state was burdened with an anti-progressive ideology that criticised industrialisation, urbanisation and proletarianisation, ignored technical and scientific conclusions, and despised settlers’ aspirations of upward mobility, seeing such aspirations as potentially politically disruptive. According to this model, the ideal type of white settler – modest, rooted in the land, earning only enough to get by – would be emulated by the African peasant, ensuring both social peace and colonial order. The failure of this experiment illustrates the (dis)connection between science and ideology in the last years of the Portuguese Empire, and the social and economic cost of their disengagement.

Offline: The rule of law—an invisible determinant of health

In January, 2016, in Beijing, Randall Rader, a former Chief Justice of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, gave a speech to a private gathering of Chinese Government officials. He had been invited to set out his assessment of China's progress towards the creation of an effective legal system. “The law is the foundation of all prosperity”, he argued. By prosperity he didn't mean only wealth. He included all aspects of a society that underpin its peaceful order and good functioning, including health. Law isn't the first determinant of health that comes to one's mind. Michael Marmot's definitive statement on the social determinants of health—as relevant now as it was in 2008 when first published—focused on early child development, full employment, improved working conditions, stronger health systems, gender biases, and measurement. Legal systems were mentioned in passing as a means to promote equal inclusion. But law was not cited as the foundation for prosperity and health. Public health advocates do not typically see the law as a critical influence on health. They are wrong. Law does not mean only the statutes passed by a legislature. The idea of law is far more important than that. The “rule of law” is a quality of the prevailing political culture, one that puts great weight on notions of good governance, independent accountability, and respect for certain rights. The most basic right of all is the right to liberty. Formally given meaning in Magna Carta (1215), liberty was expressed in this way: “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.” But what has this to do with health? The greater the attention societies gave to ideas of liberty, justice, and respect for persons—in other words, to the intrinsic value of individual human beings—the more those societies created the conditions, incentives, and obligations for governments to invest in the value of individual human beings. That value was expressed as commitments to, for example, health, education, and social protection. Global health is one of the most mobilising movements of our times because of its adherence to a transformational trinity of ideas. The first idea is equity—the notion of a fairer world where opportunities and outcomes are more evenly divided among the world's peoples. The second idea is human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) expressed our common commitment to freedom from want, the dignity of the person, social progress, the right to life, liberty, and the security of the person, the right to an adequate standard of living to provide medical care for one's health and wellbeing, the right to security in the event of sickness, disability, and old age, and the right to social protection, to name only those commitments that are relevant to health. The right to health has since been enshrined in a panoply of official covenants and general comments. The third idea is equally as powerful as equity and rights, but considerably more mysterious—global justice. What is global justice? Here we enter a highly contested space. The history of theories of justice makes any simple definition impossible. But the rule of law is anterior to any of these theories. The rule of law is a largely unacknowledged prerequisite not only for economic growth, but also for a well-functioning health system. The rule of law is identified as a critical element in the quest for sustainable development—SDG 16.3: “promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and ensure equal access to justice for all.” Next year, the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, in partnership with The Lancet, will publish the findings of a Commission on the law's role in advancing health and global justice. The goal of global justice does not have to be an elusive philosophical idea. It can be progressively achieved through attention to an indispensable, although often hidden, determinant of health—law and the rule of law. It's time the health and legal communities joined forces: to make global health and the law one of the most powerful means to achieve global justice.