Ethics, Rhetoric, and Politics of Post-Conflict Reconstruction: How Can the Concept of Social Contract Help Us in Understanding How to Make Peace Work?

Theoretical and empirical studies analysing various ethical aspects of inter-national relations — and particularly those related to war, peace and conflict resolution — have primarily focused on the moral justification of war and intervention, as well as on ‘the ethics of peace’1 by analysing the plausibility of various moral, political and economic means and ends in peacemaking. Since existing injustices and the quest for justice are usually seen to be the main causes for violent clashes, it is often claimed that the creation or restoration of justice must be the most important goal of post-conflict reconstruction. However, the current policy approaches, social movements, and theoretical models for conflict resolution tend to look at justice from merely a technical point of view, as a rapid fix to overcome war and violence. This relates the notion of ‘peace’ to ‘security’, and replaces the concept of ‘justice’ with the concepts of ‘law and order’. Creation or restoration of justice, however, does not merely mean establishment of the rule of law; it has wider moral dimensions. Therefore, the concept of justice, and the normative framework justice offers to lasting social harmony, needs to be considered in relation to local social ethics and values, and to the public ethics requirement of impartiality.