THE ARTICLE ATTEMPTS TO SUMMARIZE THE THEORIES AND FINDINGS ON NEGATIVE PEACE PUBLISHED IN JOURNAL OF PEACE RESEARCH 1964-1980. FOLLOWING A CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSION IT IS DIVIDED IN SECTIONS ON PEACE THROUGH THE BALANCE OF POWER, DETERRENCE, & THE ARMS RACE. POSITIVE APPROACHES DISCUSSED INCLUDE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS, NON-VIOLENT ACTION, WORLD LAW, SOCIALIZATION, AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT.
Security Communities, a volume edited by Emanuel Adler & Michael Barnett (1998), seeks to expand on Karl Deutsch's seminal work on the subject. Security communities exist where neighboring states have the consistent expectation that conflicts will be resolved peacefully rather than through force of arms. The editors argue that such communities develop through a three-stage process. Precipitating conditions, particularly a strong outside threat, lead to increased regional cooperation & the creation of region-level institutions & organizations. Such community-building efforts result in a sense of common identity & mutual trust. Such a state of affairs has existed in the Nordic countries -- Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, & Sweden -- since at least 1905. However, the editors' three-tiered description of how security communities develop does not appear to fit the Nordic case. There was no common external threat to lend impetus to second-tier community building. Military & economic cooperation was institutionalized only long after peaceful resolution of conflicts became the norm. The Nordic security community may be as much due to linguistic similarities & the conscious cultivation of Viking & other Scandinavian mythologies as to external threats & institution building. 1 Appendix. K. A. Larsen
A review of a book by Hans Mouritzen, Finlandization: Towards a General Theory of Adaptive Politics (Aldershop: Avebury, 1988 [see listing in IRPS No. 53]) that uses a rational actor approach to construct a theory of adaptive politics, utilizing three case studies. This approach is described, along with definitions of related terms, eg, net value account, modes of adaptation, acquiescent actors, regime orientation, strategy, etc. Problems in these definitions are noted. Modifications are suggested to improve the hypothesis & the case selection method. C. Grindle
