In a fine paper, Gerald M. Steinberg of Bar Ilan University traces the ideological evolution of “peace studies” since the 1940s.
He shows how these studies were dominated from the start by an a priori approach that viewed international conflict largely in Marxist terms – the developed West exploiting the undeveloped Third World.
With this foundation, the next stage in the ideological development of peace studies – postcolonialism and the selection of favored victims (i.e., Vietnamese, Palestinians, people of colour), and hated oppressors (the West, and the U.S. in particular) – unfolded seamlessly.