States and Nations as Challenges to Peace Research

Bibliographic Data

ID3918367
AuthorsHakan Wiberg (Centre for Peace and Conflict Research at the University of Copenhagen, corresponding author)
Year1991
Volume28
Issue4
Pages337-343
Publication date1991-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Peace Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0022343391028004001
OpenAlexW1965156876
LanguageEN
Citations received4

1. The Arrow of History: Three Events Three major events symbolize the global development of the last few years: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the defeat of the Iraqi army and the G-7 meeting in May 1991. The first and most interesting symbolized the Soviet retreat from its position of superpower (if it ever had one), forced by an economy wrecked by high arms expenditures. The second and most dramatic event symbolized that this retreat provided more action space for the remaining superpower (if it still is one) to translate its own arms expenditures into military action. The third (and most significant) event, the meeting of the economic great powers, signalled that this space has limits: Germany and Japan had grudgingly accepted to support the ailing US economy on a small scale by paying for the war, but would not do so on a grand scale by adapting their long-term rates of interest to US demands. All three events are precisely symbolic ones: parts of processes that had started long before, and continue long after them. The first event is the most intellectually challenging to peace research, and I will first describe it and then discuss what it means

Action (physics) · China · Economics · Event (particle physics) · Peacetime · Political economy · Political science · Position (finance) · Sociology · Superpower · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · History · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East

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