War and Cessation of Violence: Designing Just Institutions

Abstract

Institutions are often rooted in violence and power, and war is one of them. At the same time, war continues to be one of the most important institutions that ensure the long-term unity of a group, albeit at the cost of confrontation with another, rival group. Therefore, an important role in cessation of violence is played by how fair new institutions are. It is the justice of post-conflict institutions that makes it possible to achieve sustainable peace. The article considers the features of social and asocial acts that strengthen or undermine relations in a group or between groups and affect the justice of institutions. Cessation of destruction and violence ends the period of forced unification of a group and opens up opportunities for finding other common purposeful activities. The content of this activity is the essence of the project, in which the most important activity in terms of fostering peace is human change. The significant problem for this is when and how war should be stopped, and whether it can be done at the desired time. During the transition from war to peace, various obstacles arise, which often do not depend on the evil or good will of the participants in peace establishment. The author comes to the conclusion that the end of war always faces the problem of fictitious construction of the main enemy, done by each party of the conflict to motivate its population. This fictitious enemy is always presented as the source and cause of the coming total extermination. To establish peace, it is necessary to debunk this fiction.

Keywords

• war
• conflict
• post-conflict situation
• post-conflict institution
• just institution
• the other