The Nature and Origins of War: The Social Democratic Concept

The article considers the issues of war and peace in terms of the social democratic concept. It focuses on the evolution of socialists' views on the issues of origin of wars, their role in state-building and in history, on the means of attaining peace, models of political power and creation of international systems. A comparison is made between the views of theoreticians of the European socialism and positions of modern authors and the leading schools of international relations (concerned with political realism, liberalism and neo-Marxism). The author concludes that the social democratic concept, based on the understanding of war close to that of the school of realism, has been developing, in the aspect of post-war world order, towards liberalism. Recognizing the immense role of wars in the evolution of humankind, theoreticians of socialism sought to work out a model of a global community in which eternal peace would reign supreme. The social democratic theory has significantly contributed to the philosophy of war, not only becoming a core of neo-Marxism, but also enriching with some provisions the theory of political realism and liberalism.