Quale pacifismo giuridico oggi? Una ricostruzione sistematica a partire da Norberto Bobbio

Armed conflicts and organised violence are spreading across the Euro-Mediterranean space – from civil wars in Ukraine and Syria to struggles against the so-called Islamic State. At this time, more than ever, world peace and how to construct it remain at the top of the agenda. During the Cold War, Norberto Bobbio was one of the first, if not the first, Italian scholar who introduced, fully legitimised and constantly developed peace and war as fundamental issues of legal philosophy. Might his research still support us in framing in legal terms contemporary uses of armed force, and in exploring meaningful and realistic legal-political strategies for peace? The paper tries to answer these questions by shading light on the multiple forms that legal pacifism, i.e. the program of “peace through law”, may take while assuming Bobbio's theses as a starting background. Possible alternative forms of legal pacifism will be explored according to four dimensions – epistemological, methodological, normative and sociocultural – and will be assessed according to their capacity to address the challenges of the ongoing end of a unipolar, US-centred world.