When interviewing Dr. Ned Lazarus, a key definition he mentioned is the difference between the two types of peace: negative and positive peace. He described negative peace as the absence of direct conflict. While in this scenario, there is no conflict, war, or violence, the root cause of the problem is not addressed, leading to possible recurrence of conflict. On the other hand, positive peace is when there is no conflict and when the underlying issues and problems are being tackled to prevent conflict in the future. While many countries strive for positive peace to achieve long-term peace, in many cases, governments around the world are first hoping for negative peace. 

 

While talking to Dr. Lazarus, the idea of international intervention came up. He mentioned the inconsistency in international interventions as some conflicts were intervened in by UN or NATO forces, while other conflicts were ignored by the international community. In Rwanda, the international community did not intervene, allowing extremists to murder thousands of innocent people. However, in Bosnia, both the UN and NATO forces deployed troops, particularly after the Srebrenica, which was a small-scale genocide of the Bosnian Muslim men and boys at a Muslim safe-house. In addition, after the violence had ended, the international community further contributed by providing immediate humanitarian aid, post-war construction, and building institutions. 

 

Dr. Lazarus emphasized the strength of a country being the biggest impact and blockade towards UN intervention and action. With the five major powers of the UN, the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France having the most control over the UN with special veto and security powers, unless all five powers agree on a specific action, the UN is unable to act. As all five powers are also economically strong, any of the countries can easily threaten to pull funding from the UN. He mentioned that this was displayed during the Bosnian War, as there was no UN interference besides humanitarian aid due to the conflicting support from the United States and Russia. As the United States supported the Bosniaks while Russia supported the Serbs, their clashing support led to no interference from the UN. NATO forces, supported by the Western nations, acted to intervene in the war. 

 

Lastly, Dr. Lazarus emphasized the power some of the strongest nations have. Many of the most powerful nations can do as they please, as they have little opposition due to the imbalance in power, economic stability, and the degree of weapons they have. This leads to some countries having unlimited power with little deterrence from others. Dr. Lazarus mentioned that the self-control some of these countries possess is the reason many of the powerful countries have not abused their power.