ABSTRACT
Deciding which groups should count as genuine peace organizations is more difficult than it might at first seem. ‘Peace’ like ‘democracy’ is an attractive label, which may be appropriated for propaganda purposes. The goal of peace is, moreover, too general to be in itself a distinctive aim which separates peace groups from everyone else since most people desire peace for much of the time. The bitter divisions arise over the priority to assign to ending a war as opposed to winning it – especially if vital issues are at stake – and over the absolute importance of avoiding war. Furthermore, there is often acute disagreement over how best to avoid war, and no definitive way of answering this question. To confuse the picture further, peace campaigners do not necessarily always call for peace in preference to war. Some may, as we noted in the context of movements of the last century, support certain kinds of ‘Just War’ as a prelude to a just peace. There are many differences of opinion between peace organizations at any one time, based on variations in their underlying moral and political philosophy and specific aims. Peace groups are in addition influenced by national cultural factors.
