On the ‘Greats’ and Peace: Part Two: The Internal and External Challenges to the Embryonic International Peace Architecture in Modernity

ABSTRACT

Part II of this article develops the argument that in a century of industrialised warfare, the international peace architecture (IPA) was caught in a series of contradictions. It was drawn into a delicate balancing act of expanding rights and decolonizing former empires, building law and international institutions, making peace and managing war. Critical arguments emerged about appropriate responses to these issues, drawing on, but also heavily constrained by, their genesis in the ‘Greats’. Part II of this article examines this contradictory process in greater detail.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. See Part 1 of this paper for a definition of the Greats and an outline of their contributions and legacy.

2. “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Juvenal, Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–348).

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Notes on contributors

Oliver P. Richmond

Oliver Richmond is Research Professor in IR and Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. He is also International Professor at Dublin City University and Visiting Professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. He received a Distinguished Scholar award from the ISA Peace Studies Section in 2019. His publications include The Grand Design: The Evolution of the International Peace Architecture (Oxford University Press, 2022), Peace Formation and Political Order in Conflict Affected Societies (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Failed Statebuilding (Yale University Press, 2014). He is co-editor of the Palgrave book series, Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies, and co-editor of the Journal, Peacebuilding.