Peace in International Relations

Oliver P. Richmond is Director for the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, School of International Relations, University of St Andrews

• Introduction  Part 1: Towards an Orthodoxy of Peace - and Beyond  1. Peace and the Idealist Tradition: Towards a Liberal Peace  2. A Realist Agenda for Peace: Survival and a Victor’s Peace  3. Marxist Agendas for Peace: Towards Peace as Social Justice and Emancipation  4. Beyond a Idealist, Realist, or Marxist Version of Peace  5. The Contribution of Peace and Conflict Studies  Part 2: Post-Positivism and Peace  6. Critical Contributions to Peace  7. Post-Structuralist Contributions to Peace.  Conclusion: An Agenda for Peace in an Inter-Disciplinary IR

"Theories of international relations have largely been preoccupied with understanding the causes and patterns of conflict.  The notion of peace, by contrast, has lingered relatively under-theorized at the margins of disciplinary debates.  Rectifying this shortcoming, and drawing on a range of interdisciplinary sources, Oliver Richmond offers an ambitious tour-de-force that examines how often implied notions of peace shape approaches as diverse as realism, liberalism, critical theory and post-structuralism.  Although acknowledging its inherently contestable nature, Richmond argues convincingly that the notion of peace ought to be at the center of scholarly debates and policy deliberations." Prof. Roland Bleiker, University of Queensland'Oliver Richmond’s interrogation of the discipline of International Relations and its treatment of ‘peace’ is an excellent achievement....Richmond’s timely intervention reveals peace not simply as a contested concept, but one that is always politically charged in its instrumental invocations. The book is thoroughly useful for students and researchers alike.' Prof. Vivienne Jabri, Kings College London