Peace: a world history

298 Pages·2010·1.668 MB·English

by  Adolf, Antony

PEACE

PEACE
A World History
Antony Adolf
polity
Copyright © Antony Adolf 2009
The right of Antony Adolf to be identified as Author of this Work has been
asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2009 by Polity Press
Polity Press
65 Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK.
Polity Press
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Malden, MA 02148, USA
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of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4125-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-7456-4126-3(pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Typeset in 10 on 12 pt Sabon
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall
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For Ioana, our families and friends,
To whom I owe my life and peace of mind;
For peace workers past, present and future,
To whom we owe the world and this book is a tribute;
For teachers, mentors and colleagues,
To whom more is owed than can be recognized;
Thank you.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: How Does Peace Have a World History? page 1
1. Survival of the Peaceful: Prehistory to the First Civilizations 12
Pre-Human Peace and Peacemaking 12
Prehistoric Evolutions of Peace 15
Peace, Peacemaking and the First Civilizations 21
2. Peace in the Ancient West: Egypt, Greece and Rome 29
A Tale of Two Worlds: Peace and Peacemaking in Ancient
Egypt 29
Ancient Greece, Cradle of Western Peace and Peacemaking? 35
One Empire, One Peace: The Rise of Rome to the Pax
Romana’s Decline 46
3. Peace in the Ancient East: India, China and Japan 56
The Many, the Few, the One: Peace and Peacemaking in
Ancient India 56
Harmonies and Antinomies of Ancient China 63
Foreign Influences and Native Peace in Japanese History 74
4. Monotheistic Peaces: Judaism, Christianity and Islam 83
Shalom: Peace in the Torah and its Times 83
“Our” Universal Peace: From Christ to Constantine 88
A Pillar of Peace: The Qur’an and its World 95
5. Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation Peaces 103
A Tale of Two Cities: Medieval Peace and Peacemaking 103
viii Contents
(Re)Births of Peace: Renaissance Revivals of and Departures
from Traditions 109
Reforming Christian Peace and Peacemaking 114
6. Peace, Peacemaking and the Ascent of Nation-States 119
Intra-National Peace and Peacemaking 119
International Peace and Peacemaking 126
Peace and Peacemaking Despite Nation-States 133
7. Colonial and Imperial Peace and Peacemaking 143
Peaces of the World: Colonial Peace and Peacemaking 143
The World in Peaces: Imperial Peace and Peacemaking 151
8. Modern Economics of Peace and Peacemaking 162
Capitalism: The Profitability of Peace and the Cost of War 162
Who Owns Peace? Socialist Perspectives 170
9. Peace in the Twentieth Century, Part I: 1900–1945 178
The “War to End all Wars” 178
The Peace to End all Peace? 187
10. Peace in the Twentieth Century, Part II: 1945–1989 195
Cold War/Hot Peace 195
One World, Many Peaces 207
11. The Presents of Peace 219
Globalization: Peace at the End of History 219
Threatening Opportunities: Terrorism, Technology,
New Media and Peace 227
Conclusion: The Pyramid of Peace: Past, Present and Future 234
Notes 249
Selected Bibliography 265
Index 271