The Peace Science Society (International) promotes scholarship on the causes of conflict between and within states, conflict resolution, and the promotion of sustainable peace.

Goals

The Peace Science Society (International), or PSS(I), is an association for the advancement of peace and conflict research. The Society operates as an objective, professional, and scholarly organization without political, ideological, financial, or national bias. PSS(I) is not confined to a particular academic discipline, but welcomes and utilizes relevant work across the social and natural sciences. Moreover, the Society is committed to promoting work which utilizes rigorous scientific methods and analyses on the causes of conflict and the promotion of peace. PSS(I) facilitates acquaintance and provides a vehicle for discussion among its members worldwide. It encourages and supports the publication of research, particularly, but not exclusively, quantitative research. PSS(I) does not promote direct political action or polemical discussion.

History

The Society was established as the Peace Research Society (International) in 1963 when Walter Isard convened a group of scholars at Malmo, Sweden. Its first conference was held in Chicago involving the participation of Kenneth Boulding, Anatol Rapoport, and many other leading scholars. Joining it entailed a mere $1 contribution. From 1964 to 1968, its affairs were conducted by a Steering Committee at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1969, an administrative council was set up as provided by the Society's constitution. In 1973, the Society became the Peace Science Society (International), and its office was transferred to Cornell University and administered jointly with the School of Management at SUNY Binghamton. In 1989 the Society was transferred fully to the Department of Political Science at Binghamton University and subsequently to the Department of Political Science at the Pennsylvania State University. Stuart A. Bremer served as the Executive Secretary of the Society from 1989-2002. In October of 2002 Glenn Palmer at the Pennsylvania State University was elected as the Executive Director of the Society, overseeing a period of tremendous growth in the Society's membership and activities. In 2019, Idean Salehyan from the University of North Texas was elected as Executive Director.

A detailed account of the early history of the Peace Science Society is published as: Isard, Walter (2000). "Formative and early Years of the Peace Science Society (International)." Conflict Management and Peace Science. 18(1): 1-48.