On Tuesday 24 February 2026, Prof Gearoid Millar will be delivering a public talk on The Crisis of Legitimacy in Peace Work and the Return of ‘Peace as Force’.
In this talk, Gearoid Millar explores the declining legitimacy of peace work in the post–Cold War era. Drawing on interviews with 99 peace professionals conducted in 2018–19 and 2024–25, he examines how both scholars and practitioners assess past and future challenges to peace. A central concern emerging from these interviews is the erosion of confidence in liberal peacebuilding particularly Western states and the UN. More troublingly, Millar argues that the broader ideal of “just peace”—focused on protection and emancipation—is also losing legitimacy and seeing a return to “peace as force.”
The talk will be held in G42, Paterson’s Land, University of Edinburgh running from 10:30am to 12:00pm and attendees can register here. This talk is hosted by PeaceRep and the Centre for Security Research.