The peace of conflict by Odionyenma Emmanuel Chinonso

The peace of conflict by
Odionyenma Emmanuel Chinonso

- a social contract of opposites.

This draws a conceptual and literal paradox because clearly at its core both 'peace' and 'conflict' indicate an abstraction from the other, they walk two parallel lines. With this, an attempt to concoct a relationship between these polar opposites could easily be faulted as conceptual contradiction or at worst a flawed attempt at sarcasm. OR IS IT?  CAN A UNITY OF OPPOSITES KIND OF RELATIONSHIP EXIST BETWEEN THESE CONTRADICTIONS.

Undoubtedly, peace is the state of tranquility. To the  puritist, peace is the state of serenity devoid of all forms of violence and antagonism. George Washington believes "peace implies a state of competition short of open hostilities".  At the other end, conflict is a friction between variables existing within a sphere of interest. Simply put conflict is a discord or disagreement between interest groups or individuals arising from capabilities, wills and wants.

Contemporarily, peace is not regimented as the best absence of conflict rather as the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. This notion fosters a nexus alotting credence to the disposition that this perceived polarized phenomena are interelated.

Both phenomena are begot by human social interaction, subject to the unrelenting insatiable dynamism of human behavior and pursuit of wants which constantly calls for an equilibrium of power and interest. This process of attaining balance is conflict. For conflict in a social contract sense is the balance of powers amongst interest, capabilities and wills. In adjusting 'wants', 'what can be gotten' or 'willing to pursue', the tools adopted to attain this adjustment whether hostile, violent or competitive seeks equilibrium, which is peace.

While an unbalanced process would induce maintainance of the status quo, the infinite nature of this process results in an unending social flux or contract where actions and inactions fuel the cycle.

Ultimately, the equilibrium created by this infinite social flux draws a picture of a "half empty, half full glass" scenario known as the "unity of opposites". In the sense that though they remain contradicted,  this is only to serve as  validation to each other, making it inevitable that peace can only be truly understood through the spectrum of conflict and by implication conflict becomes a necessity to attain peace.

By
Odionyenma Emmanuel Chinonso.
State code: os/19B/3957
State of origin: Imo state
Course studied: Political science
Email:Odionyenmae650@gmail.com