Synopses & Reviews
Veteran scholar and peace activist David Cortright offers a definitive history of the human striving for peace and an analysis of its religious and intellectual roots. This authoritative, balanced, and highly readable volume traces the rise of peace advocacy and internationalism from their origins in earlier centuries through the mass movements of recent decades: the pacifist campaigns of the 1930s, the Vietnam antiwar movement, and the waves of disarmament activism that peaked in the 1980s. Also explored are the underlying principles of peace - nonviolence, democracy, social justice, and human rights - all placed within a framework of 'realistic pacifism'. Peace brings the story up-to-date by examining opposition to the Iraq War and responses to the so-called 'war on terror'. This is history with a modern twist, set in the context of current debates about 'the responsibility to protect', nuclear proliferation, Darfur, and conflict transformation.
Review
"Cortright (Univ. of Notre Dame) has written an excellent history of peace movements and themes. He approaches the definition of peace with an understanding of its changing concept through time and its pendulum swings from utopian to realist. Cortright covers an extensive amount of history and philosophy in a cohesive and easy to understand format. The author's ability to represent the idealistic perceptions of peace and pacifism while articulating 'realistic pacifism' is particularly pleasing." --Choice
Review
"..indepth history of efforts to prevent war..." --Veteran
Synopsis
A definitive history of peace advocacy and an analysis of its religious and intellectual roots.
Synopsis
Veteran scholar and peace activist Cortright offers a definitive history of the human striving for peace and an analysis of its religious and intellectual roots. This history with a modern twist, is set in the context of current debates about 'the responsibility to protect', nuclear proliferation, Darfur, and conflict transformation.
About the Author
David Cortright is President of the Fourth Freedom Forum and Research Fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame.
Table of Contents
1. What is peace; Part I. Movements: 2. The first peace societies; 3. Towards internationalism; 4. Facing Fascism; 5. Debating Disarmament; 6. Confronting the Cold War; 7. Banning the bomb; 8. Refusing war; Part II. Themes: 9. Religion; 10. A force more powerful; 11. Democracy; 12. Social Justice; 13. Responsibility to protect; 14. A moral equivalent; 15. Realizing disarmament; 16. Realistic pacifism.