WHAT PRICE PEACE? ON THE DIALECTICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CIVILIZATION AND WAR

It is generally understood that that there is a direct correlation between civilized society and a propensity for cooperation and peace over confrontation and violent conflict, both in domestic affairs and in international relations. Under the influence of democratic and liberal theories of perpetual peace, this leads to the assumption…

MacGregor Knox and Williamson Murray, eds. The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300–۲۰۵۰

Carl von Clausewitz famously declared “War is but the continuation of politics by other means.” It could just as easily be declared that war is the continuation of civilization by other means, concerning how different societies and cultures fight can be reflective of their distinct characters as much as any…

Civilization and Its Consequences

This article outlines the origins and meanings of the concept of civilization in Western political thought. In doing so it necessarily explores the nature of the relationship between civilization and closely related ideas such as progress and modernity. In exploring these concepts, some of their less savory aspects are revealed,…