Prolegomena do studiów nad wojną, konfliktem i ładem międzynarodowym

Abstract

An introduction explaining the character of wars and armed conflicts as factors shaping the international order refers to the basic terminology and the main issues, including their subject, their scope of meaning and their narrative context. It deals with such phenomena and historical facts as war, conflict, military art, fight, peace, international order, turning points, and geopolitical/hegemonic cycles. They are most frequently defined and accepted from the angle of particular scientific disciplines, among other things history, sociology, law, political science, international relations, and military science. As a result, they do not fall only into the domain of military questions. An old interpretation of war is that it is a tool and means to achieve the political aim, which is peace. International conflicts are interpreted here not as military confrontations subordinate to war, but as categories of incompatibility between the sides that aspire to a dominance of some type: religious, ethnic, economic, social, and the like. On the other hand, the perception of the phenomenon of peace determined by Kant’s perpetual peace should be interpreted as political/hegemonic periods, marked by military achievements to maintain or acquire dominance (of power).

Keywords

• war
• military art
• geopolitical analysis
• philosophical reflection
• methodology of history
• system logic