peace

"simply being tough enough to subdue an adversary does not guarantee peace."

But this is the usual kind of "peace" that exists being peoples and nations. Think of the pax Romana of the roman empire or, in our time, the "peace" that existed in the Soviet empire when the Russians were in control. When that iron hand was removed, one ethnic group turned on another within the former empire. The other kind of "peace", peace of mind, non-agressiveness, non-enviousness, can exist more easily in individuals or even small groups, but seem rare or even non-adaptive in large groups. I think of European Jews of the early 20th century who were mostly pacifist and non-violent and who were mostly led easily to their destruction in the Nazi camps. President Obama in Oslo justified America's presence in Afghanistan with language that sounded very much like the Catholic doctrine of "just wars". There are times when a violent response is appropriate. There was a story on the news yesterday of a woman who killed a man who was breaking into her home by smashing a sliding glass door with a chair. While we never want violence, in that kind of situation, a moral choice has to be made for the lesser evil.