[Research report] Whose Peace? -Vision of civil society on security in Northeast Asia through the lens of PEACEMOMO

We are delighted to share with you Sarah Brandmeier’s research report, “Whose Peace?”, produced during her five-month internship at PEACEMOMO . Through interviews with members of the PEACEMOMO staff memebrs, Sarah analyzed and compared the “commoning peace” pursued by PEACEMOMO with traditional security, and articulated its rich meaning in well-organized language. We would like to express our gratitude to her once again.

“This paper begins by introducing the conceptual landscape of peace and security (2), distinguishing between different meanings of peace (2.1), contrasting state-centred and civil-society approaches to security (2.2), and presenting commoning peace as a civil society intervention in this debate (2.3). It then turns to the findings from interviews with PEACEMOMO admin members, structured around their philosophy and practice: visions of peace and security (3.1), the everyday practice of commoning peace (3.2), bridging the gap between citizens and state narratives through education and dialogue (3.3), the challenges posed by dominant state-centred security discourses and the opportunities for transformation (3.4), reflections on sustaining peace work and securing resources (3.5), and imagined futures of peace (3.6). The discussion (4) examines how PEACEMOMO’s philosophy confronts and redefines state-centred understandings of security (4.1), how commoning peace contributes to conceptualising alternative security models (4.2), and the broader implications for peace and security debates in Northeast Asia (4.3). The paper concludes with reflections on whose peace is being pursued in the region (5.1) and lessons drawn from PEACEMOMO for reimagining peace and security beyond militarised paradigms (5.2).”

“While peace is often presented as the ultimate goal of international politics, in many contexts, including Northeast Asia, it is still very narrowly defined under terms like state security and militarisation. Even though “peace is far more complex than being the opposite of war“(Jarstad, 2019, p. 4), many political discussions only centre around the idea of peace through strength, including military strength, nuclear deterrence, and strategic alliances, prioritising territorial defence and national survival. This focus on negative security not only treats citizens as passive recipients of peace but also ignores how debates around militarisation and nuclear deterrence can directly lead to everyday experiences of insecurity for the citizens.”

“commoning peace as understood by PEACEMOMO members offers a very different conceptual and practical model of security than state-centred security. PEACEMOMO shares the idea that peace can function as a commons that is collectively created, maintained and shared.”

“Commoning peace reframes security as co-production. Thus, positive security is created with people and not delivered to people. Furthermore, everyone shares responsibility and ownership. This challenges the idea from traditional, negative security models that only states can guarantee peace and produce safety.”