University of Notre Dame
Kroc Institutde for International Peace Studies

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When Atalia Omer and I began planning this issue of Peace Policy, we were struck by the disappearance of international law from peace studies. Colleagues seem to no longer write or teach the core principles of peace or the legal tools for dispute resolution. Yet, the world appears in greater need of this knowledge than ever before. That was in August 2023 with wars raging in Ukraine, Sudan, and other places. Then the Gaza War began. Our questions took on new importance and urgency. At the end of December, just as the contributors to this issue drafted their essays, South Africa took up the cause of the people of Gaza in the International Court of Justice, the chief judicial organ of the United Nations. The role of international law, mechanisms of dispute resolution and the suffering of human beings and the natural world from terrorism, war, and human rights atrocities took global center stage.

These essays all concern the relationship of international law to the promotion of peace and human rights. They begin with my essay setting out reasons why the international law of peace has been vanishing from university curricula and government policy. Ernesto Verdeja, a genocide studies scholar, indicates the cost of disregarding international law. He looks to South Africa’s argument that the Gaza War is exacting the highest cost a violation of international law can conceivably impose: Genocide. The final essay returns to a theme of the first. Cecilia Marcella Bailliet writes on the emerging international legal principle of solidarity. In it, she demonstrates the resilience of international law. She shows that even at this troubled time, activists around the world look to international law to protect them as they seek to galvanize communities to respect peace, human rights, and the climate. The concept of solidarity may well have the persuasive power to shift the political reality from anti- to pro-international law once again.

The common message is that disregarding authentic international law in teaching and policy making has had brutal consequences. South Africa and peace activists are modeling the faith and commitment to take us forward as a global community of peace.

Mary Ellen O’Connell, guest editor

 

who we are

Research-based insights, commentary, and solutions to the global challenge of conflict and systemic violence

our scope

Searching for Policy Solutions to Pressing Global Issues

Each issue features the writing of scholars and practitioners who work to understand the causes of violent conflict and systemic violence and who seek to contribute solutions in service of building more just and peaceful societies. 

Intersectionality

Civil Society Peacebuilding

Religion

Counterterrorism

Sanctions

Genocide

Development

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Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
University of Notre Dame
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Notre Dame, IN 46556