Understandings of Peace

Peace as the absence of violence

The traditional political definition of peace and the very word itself originated among the ancient Romans who defined peace, pax, as absentia belli, the absence of war.
Today, peace is often understood as the absence of war between two or more state-organized armies. Nonetheless, the concept of peace also applies to the state of people within their respective geopolitical entities, as civil war, state-sponsored genocide, terrorism, and other violence are all threats to peace on an intranational level. Since World War II, wars among states have become less common, while violent internal conflicts have become a more central concern. Present day Sudan, for example, is the site of widespread suffering and violence, despite its not being engaged in war with another sovereign state. Peace, in this context, is understood as the absence of violence among groups, whether part of a state apparatus or not.
This conception of peace as a mere absence of overt violence, however, is still challenged by some as incomplete. Influential peace researcher Johan Galtung has described this former conception of peace as "negative peace",[1] suggesting that underlying points of conflict must themselves be resolved in order for true peace to exist.

Peace as the presence of justice

Mahatma Gandhi suggested that if an oppressive society lacks violence, the society is nonetheless not peaceful, because of the injustice of the oppression. Gandhi articulated a vision of peace in which justice is an inherent and necessary aspect; that peace requires not only the absence of violence but also the presence of justice. Galtung described this peace, peace with justice, as "positive peace," because hostility and further violence could no longer flourish in this environment.
During the 1950s and 60s, when Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement carried out various non-violent activities aimed at ending segregation and racial persecution in America, they understood peace as more than just the absence of violence. They observed that while there was not open combat between blacks and whites, there was an unjust system in place in which the government deprived African Americans of equal rights. While some opponents criticized the activists for "disturbing the peace", Martin Luther King observed that "True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice."
Galtung coined the term structural violence to refer to such situations, which although not violent on the surface, harbor systematic oppression and injustice.

Peace as Salaam
Orthodox Muslims--as submitters to the will of only one eternal being--Allah; believe that mankind is born in a state of Islam--peaceful, full of love, and unadulterated; but unfortunately it is his/her polluted Environment (along with the Shaytan and Jinns), which lead mankind astray from the straight path of Islam. This is why Muslims are required to do Dawah to promote Islam's peaceful message of Social Justice to spread peace throughout the Earth through the truth revealed in the Holy Quran; and complemented by the Hadith.

Peace and development
One concept or idea that often complements peace studies is development. In much development discourse, it is assumed that economic, cultural, and political development will take "underdeveloped" nations and peoples out of poverty, thus helping bring about a more peaceful world. As such, many international development agencies carry out projects funded by the governments of industrialized countries such as the United States, Japan, and Norway, designed to "modernize" poor countries.