Presented at the Conference on Reframing Peace (CPP 2025), Texas State University, testing whether leading peace definitions meet the standards of scientific definition.
Anders Reagan presented “When Peace Fails: Typologies Under Scientific Scrutiny” at the Conference on Reframing Peace, held at Texas State University. The paper tackled a longstanding challenge in peace studies: the lack of a shared, operationally precise definition of “peace.”
Many definitions conflate what peace is with what it does, blurring ontological boundaries and undermining coordinated, cumulative research.
In response, the paper advanced a structural definition: peace exists when the people involved in a relationship experience mutual benefit within a specific context and timeframe. This reframing offers a coherent, testable basis for cumulative research and more harmonised practice.
Discussion at the conference tested the paper’s claims from multiple angles, reflecting ongoing debate about definitional standards in peace studies.