Foreword

In the social science discipline, the subject of Peace and Conflict has been pursued on different paths. The first approach is the ethical aspect involving religion, culture, nonviolence, etc. Next is the established area of Peace Studies which focuses more on case studies, and is usually qualitative. The area of conflict management in industrial relations involving negotiations, arbitrations, etc., is also case oriented but is becoming more quantitative. Peace Economics and Peace Science use tools, methods, and quantitative framework of various Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Law, and Engineering. Unlike Peace Economics, Peace Science is much more theoretical and related to Political Science and International Relations. At this time, Peace Science is far from becoming an interdisciplinary field as its founder, the late Walter Isard, wanted it to become. The frontiers of Peace Science is moving farther due to such factors as globalization, global economic downturn, terrorism, environmental factors, international and intranational conflicts, wars, etc. Papers included in this volume indicate the direction in which Peace Science is moving.