On the Role of System Thinking in Peace Studies Valentina Bartolucci (Bradford University, V.Bartolucci@Bradford.ac.uk) Giorgio Gallo Cisp (Interdisciplinary Center Sciences for Peace), University of Pisa, gallo@di.unipi.it Abstract The discourse on Ethics in Operations Research/Management Science has many aspects. Among them there is the ethical responsibility the OR/MS community faces in a world in which the widespread presence structural violence makes the construction of a peaceful and sustainable social order a very challenging task, and puts at risk the very survival of human kind. In this paper we want to emphasize the role of the systemic approach, which is proper of OR/MS, with respect to the issue of Peace, and in particular within the Peace Studies area. Key Words: Ethics, Peace Studies, Interdisciplinarity, System Thinking. April 2008 1. Introduction The discourse on Ethics in Operations Research/Management Science has many aspects. Some have to do with the way OR/MS researchers/practitioners work, their relation with the client, and their attention to the broader effects of the proposed solutions. But there is another not less relevant issue, and it has to do with the ethical responsibility the OR/MS community faces in a “world of growing inequalities and in which the ever greater stress that human activities impose on the environment puts at risk the very survival of human kind” (Brans, Gallo, 2004). In this paper we want to emphasize the role of the systemic approach, which is proper of OR/MS, with respect to the issue of Peace, and in particular in the Peace Studies area. Peace Studies as an established academic field is characterized by different approaches. The field of Peace Studies has been influenced by a broad range of disciplines (philosophy, psy- chology, sociology, political science, etc…) and focuses on a large number of issues ranging from conflict resolution, security, deep understanding of the causes of war and conditions for peace, among others. Peace Studies in the early twenty first century is a growing field of study and research. The contents and foci of current Peace Studies research have varied a lot over time, but, despite the great variability of approaches in the field, some commonalities can be traced. Traditional focus of Peace Studies has been on a holistic understanding of the causes of war and of the conditions for peace. As a field of study, Peace Studies tends to refuse the positivist claim of a universal truth opting for a more relativistic approach. In addition, it is explicitly value-oriented. Rogers and Ramsbotham (1999) identified seven com- mon features of Peace Studies: 1) a concern to address the root causes of violence; 2) the use of interdisciplinary approaches; 3) the search for non-violent transformations; 4) a multi-level analysis to overcome the distinction between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ dimensions of a crisis; 5) the adoption of a multicultural approach; 6) the coexistence of normative and analytical 1