Abstract
"War appears to be as old as mankind, but peace is a modern invention" . This quotation of Sir Henry Maine seems obvious: wars have been a common feature of mankind history. On the other hand, implementation of durable peace, and not only end of the war, is a more intricate notion. The regular intervention of the United Nations and Western countries in conflicts around the world is a relatively new phenomenon. Despite of that, "small wars", expression used in the 1970's by the Financial Times to name any internal conflict , multiply rapidly. Moreover, the distinction between war and peace becomes tricky, which shows that the nature of war itself has changed and does not have a Clausewitzean dimension anymore. After the Cold War, in the beginning of the 1990's, some intellectuals believed in the end of wars and consequently in a perpetual peace. In reality civil wars, new wars, post-Cold War or post-Clausewitzean conflicts (depending on the source) hold centre stage.
