IB Global Politics Why Peace and Conflict Are Hard to Define Key Definitions

Conflict between parties with significantly unequal military, economic, or political power. Often involves state versus non-state actors, with the weaker party using guerrilla tactics, terrorism, or other unconventional methods to offset the stronger party's conventional military advantage.

The emotional, cultural, and political associations that a word carries beyond its literal meaning. In global politics, connotations are strategically deployed by actors to frame issues, influence public opinion, and shape policy responses.

Attitudes, beliefs, and norms used to legitimize direct or structural violence. Includes racism, religious extremism, nationalism, and media propaganda. Cultural violence operates by making other forms of violence appear natural, justified, or inevitable within a society.

The literal, dictionary meaning of a word, stripped of emotional or cultural associations. In political analysis, denotation provides the baseline factual meaning before interpretation and framing are applied.

Physical acts of harm including war, assault, terrorism, and armed conflict. The most visible form in Galtung's violence triangle, direct violence is perpetrated by identifiable actors against specific targets and is the easiest type to document and measure.

Conflict that blends conventional military operations with cyberattacks, disinformation, economic coercion, and proxy forces. Associated with Russian strategy in Ukraine from 2014 to the present, hybrid warfare exploits the grey zone between peace and war to achieve strategic objectives while avoiding direct military confrontation.

The absence of direct violence or armed conflict, without addressing underlying structural causes. Associated with Johan Galtung's framework, negative peace describes situations like ceasefires or deterrence where fighting has stopped but root causes of conflict remain unresolved.

The presence of social justice, equality, and conditions that address the root causes of conflict. Goes beyond the mere absence of war to include well-functioning government, equitable distribution of resources, free flow of information, and respect for human rights. Developed by Johan Galtung as the counterpart to negative peace.

The process by which an issue is framed as an existential threat to justify extraordinary measures, including military action or suspension of normal politics. Coined by the Copenhagen School of security studies, securitization theory argues that security is not an objective condition but a speech act that transforms political issues into security matters.

Harm caused by social, economic, and political systems that prevent people from meeting basic needs. Examples include poverty, inequality, and institutional discrimination. Unlike direct violence, structural violence has no single perpetrator but is embedded in societal structures that systematically disadvantage certain groups.