IB Global Politics Contested Meanings of Peace and Conflict 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.

Civil disobedience is the deliberate, public, and usually non-violent breaking of a law to protest an injustice. Participants typically accept the legal consequences in order to draw attention to the cause and pressure authorities to change.

Conflict is a disagreement or clash between individuals, groups, or states over incompatible goals, values, or resources. It can occur at various levels, from personal disputes to international wars.

Conflict resolution is the process of addressing the underlying causes of conflict and finding mutually acceptable solutions. Common methods include negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and peacekeeping.

Conflict transformation is a broader approach that seeks to change the relationships, structures, and dynamics that sustain conflict. Its focus is on long-term peacebuilding, reconciliation, and social justice.

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.

Cultural and ideational factors are the beliefs, values, norms, traditions, and ideas that shape how societies and individuals think and behave. These factors influence political, social, and economic life by framing what people see as acceptable, legitimate, or desirable. For example, religious beliefs shaping laws on marriage, social norms influencing gender roles, or nationalist ideologies driving independence movements are all cultural and ideational factors.

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.

Norms, values, and ideologies that justify or legitimize violence such as racism, sexism, religious intolerance.

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.

Physical harm or force inflicted on individuals or groups, such as war and torture.

Refers to countries with lower levels of economic and industrial development, typically found south of more developed nations.

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.

Legitimacy refers to the perceived justification or acceptability of an action, decision, or institution.

Liberal peacebuilding is an approach to post-conflict reconstruction that combines democratic elections, free market economic reform, rule-of-law institutions, and international human rights frameworks as a standard package for building durable peace.

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.

Non-violence is the absence of physical violence and the use of peaceful methods to resist injustice or bring about change. It usually involves actions such as protest, boycott, civil disobedience, and refusal to cooperate, rather than physical force.

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.

Power asymmetry refers to a situation where power, resources, or influence are distributed unequally between actors, giving one side a significant advantage over the other. This imbalance can shape relationships, negotiations, and conflicts. For example, developed countries dominating trade rules over developing countries, employers holding more bargaining power than workers, or a majority group controlling political institutions over minorities are all cases of power asymmetry.

Proximate causes are the immediate or direct factors that trigger a problem or event, as opposed to the deeper systemic roots. They are the short-term, surface-level causes that make an issue visible. For example, a drought causing food shortages, a government policy change sparking protests, or an outbreak of violence after an election can all be considered proximate causes.

The organized opposition against another party.

The deliberate destruction of property to weaken an opponent.

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.