In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King, Jr. concluded that he, on behalf of the civil rights movement, received the award as 'recognition that ___ is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time' - overcoming oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence.

Peace studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that draws on political science, sociology, history, anthropology, theology, psychology, philosophy, and other fields to:

understand the causes of armed conflict;
develop ways to prevent and resolve war, genocide, terrorism, gross violations of human rights; and
build peaceful and just systems and societies.