Peace & Conflict: Vocabulary List (Global Politics DP1)

Negative Peace

Absence of violence. (ex. Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in 2021)

Direct Violence

Violence with the direct intent to physically or psychologically injure another person/group (ex. Syrian airstrikes during Civil War)

Cultural Violence

Direct or Structural Violence justified by culture or beliefs (ex. Anti-Rohingya hate speech in Myanmar contributing to violence after 2012)

Structural Violence

Direct or Structural Violence built into society (ex. The Flint water crisis in 2014-2019 that harmed low-income and Black communities)

Positive peace

Presence of justice, equality, and cooperation (ex. Post-conflict reconciliation programs in Rwanda in 2010)

Balance of power

Peace by ensuring power balance between states (ex. U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific to balance China’s rise.)

Feminist peace

Peace explored with gender, how conflict affects people based on gender (ex. UN Resolution 1325 implementation efforts in Afghanistan after 2010.)

Destructive conflict

Conflict causing harm or violence (ex. The escalation of civil war in Yemen since 2015)

Constructive conflict

Conflict leading to development, such as civil rights movements (ex. The 2011 Arab Spring protests leading to political reforms in Tunisia)

Strategic non-violence

Non-violent approach to create change (ex. Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement)

Non-violent resistance

Unarmed resistance including protests and noncooperation to achieve goals (Ex. Sudan’s 2019 protests that removed Omar al-Bashir)

Pacifism

Philosophy rejected violence based on moral grounds and opposition to war (ex. Anti-war protests against the Iraq War troop surge in 2007.)

Geneva conventions

Four international treaties forming the basis of international humanitarian law by declaring how prisoners, soldiers, and civilians must be treated in armed conflict. (ex. Investigations of possible war crimes during the Israel-Hamas War)

Primary disputants

Primary parties in a conflict that oppose one another. (Ex. RSF and SAF in the South Sudan Civil war)

Interstate conflict

Armed conflict between two or more states (ex. Russia vs. Ukraine War)

Intrastate conflict

Armed conflict between two or more groups in the same state (ex. Syrian War)

Secondary parties to conflict

Secondary parties with indirect stake of a conflict that may provide support but aren’t directly involved. (Ex. UAE and Saudi Arabia in the South Sudan War)

Third parties to conflict

Third party facilitator who attempt to end hostilities between conflicts (ex. USA and UN in the South Sudan Civil War)