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Peaceful coexistence

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Conflict and Peace

   Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed during the Cold War among
   Communist states that they could peacefully coexist with capitalist
   states. This was in contrast to theories, such as those implied by some
   interpretations of antagonistic contradiction, that Communism and
   capitalism could never exist in peace. However it was interpreted
   differently by the USSR and the People's Republic of China, the two
   dominant states in the Communist world.

   The Soviet Union applied it to relations between the industrialized
   world and in particular the United States and NATO countries and the
   nations of the Warsaw Pact.

   During the 1960s and early 1970s, China applied it to relations between
   itself and non-socialist countries in the developing world while it
   argued that a belligerent attitude should be maintained towards
   imperialist countries. However, in the early 1980s, China extended the
   peaceful coexistence concept to include all nations.

   Debates over differing interpretations of peaceful coexistence were one
   aspect of the Sino-Soviet split in the 1950s and 1960s.

   More recently, the phrase has gained currency beyond its usage in
   Communist phraseology and has been adopted by the broader diplomatic
   world. For instance, in his 2004 Christmas address, Pope John Paul II
   called for "peaceful coexistence" in the Middle East.

Soviet policy

   Khrushchev promoted the concept beginning in 1953 in an attempt to
   reduce hostility between the two superpowers particularly in light of
   the possibility of nuclear war. The theory of peaceful coexistence
   promoted by the Soviet Union asserted that the two superpowers (the USA
   and USSR) and their ideologies could co-exist together, without war
   (peacefully). Khrushchev tried to demonstrate his commitment to
   peaceful coexistence by attending international peace conferences, such
   as the Geneva Summit, and by travelling internationally, such as his
   trip to America's Camp David in 1959. The World Peace Council founded
   in 1949 and largely funded by the Soviet Union attempted to organize a
   peace movement in favour of the concept internationally.

   The concept was meant to assuage western concerns that the Soviet Union
   was driven by the concept of world revolution which had been advocated
   by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. However while Lenin and the Bolsheviks
   advocated world revolution, they never advocated it's spread by
   violence and war. Lenin had talked about "peaceful cohabitation" with
   capitalist countries. Khrushchev argued that while socialism would
   eventually triumph over capitalism this would occur without war which
   was neither necessary nor inevitable.

   It seems reasonable to assume that the concept was a reaction to the
   realisation that a nuclear war would ensure the destruction of the
   socialist system and the annihilation of the Soviet Union itself. It
   was also reflected in the USSR's strategic military disposition - the
   move away from large (and possibly offensive) military forces towards a
   force centred on a strategic nuclear missile force. Although disquiet
   over this shift helped bring Khrushchev down, his successors did not
   return to the Stalinist theories of an inevitable conflict between the
   imperialist and socialist systems.

Chinese policy

   Premier Zhou Enlai of the People's Republic of China proposed the Five
   Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in 1953 during negotiations with
   India over Tibet and these were written into the Agreement Between the
   People's Republic of China and the Republic of India on Trade and
   Intercourse Between the Tibet Region of China and India signed in 1954
   by Zhou and Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru. The priniciples
   were reiterated by Zhou at the Bandung Conference of Asian and African
   countries where they were incorporated into the conference
   declarations. One major consequence of this policy was that the PRC
   would not support Communist insurgencies in Southeast Asia,
   particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia, and would distance itself from
   overseas Chinese in those nations.

   However, Maoist doctrine continued to emphasise the survivability of
   any conflict between the imperialist and socialist world systems - the
   Chinese continued to advocated a stronger form of the campist theory of
   global politics than that approved in the USSR.

   With Mao's death the Chinese softened their line, though would never
   endorse the views of their rivals. During the late 1970s and 1980s, the
   concept of peaceful coexistence was expanded as a framework for all
   sovereign nations. In 1982 the Five Principles were written into the
   Constitution of the People's Republic of China which claims to be bound
   by them in its international relations.

   The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as promoted by China are:
     * mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity
     * mutual non-aggression
     * non-interference in each other's internal affairs
     * equality and mutual benefit
     * peaceful co-existence

   There are three notable consequences of the Chinese concept of peaceful
   coexistence. First of all, in contrast with the Soviet concepts of the
   mid-1970s, the Chinese concepts include the encouragement of global
   free trade. Second, the Chinese concept of peaceful coexistence places
   a large emphasis on national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and
   thus moves by the United States to promote democracy and human rights
   are seen in this framework as hostile. Finally, as the PRC does not
   consider Taiwan to be sovereign, the concept of peaceful coexistence
   does not extend to Taiwan, and efforts by other nations, particularly
   the United States, to involve itself in PRC-Taiwan relations are seen
   as hostile actions in this framework.

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