Abstract

This article proposes to conceptualize international peace as an engineered construction—that is, a system that can be designed, assembled, and protected through purpose-built mechanisms. The paper analyzes the principal existing approaches to security (diplomatic, political, military, and technological) and demonstrates that while each is important, none contains a built-in mechanism that automatically enforces peace or guarantees compliance with security obligations. The economic component is examined as the missing structural element: pre-committed economic obligations can create a stable architecture of deterrence by making aggression economically disadvantageous for any regime, thereby reducing dependence on political will and increasing systemic predictability. The system of Economic Guarantees of Security (EGS) is presented as a structural element of a new international architecture of deterrence and conflict prevention in the twenty-first century.

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