As of April 2026, numerous wars continue across the globe. The assumption, after two world wars and a Cold War, was that the appetite for armed conflict would diminish. Nearly half a century of globalisation, driven since the late 1970s by the rise of neoliberalism, was supposed to ensure that economic rationality would prevail over nationalist ideology. Reality has proved otherwise.
This special issue of Taiwan Insight is honoured to feature nine pieces offering in-depth reflections on war and peace, each drawing comparisons between the potential for cross-Strait conflict and wars unfolding in other parts of the world. Discussion of war should not be reduced to political abstraction. Any genuine understanding must be grounded in its material realities: lives lost, homes destroyed, families torn apart, and the futures of children laid to ruin. It is precisely because of this moment that the Lung Yingtai Cultural Foundation, marking the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, sought to bridge this gap by introducing the framework of “Peace Games” to the Chinese-speaking world in September 2025. The reflections generated by that forum are condensed in the pieces that make up this special issue of Taiwan Insight.
We hope that in reading and reflecting upon these pieces, we might all begin to consider — and reconsider — what war and peace mean in our time.
Peace and Democracy: A Symbiotic Relationship Written by Wu Yu-Shan.
Taiwanese Peace as a crucial engagement to advance decolonisation for Japan
Written by Yoshitaka Ota.
River and Sea · Plateau · Resonance: The Possibility of Peace in a Turbulent World
Written by Cao Kefei
Grassroots Citizens in Taiwan Use Digital Tools to Build Whole-of-Society Solidarity
Written by Yen Lin (mashbean) Huang.
Good friction: A design principle for positive peace Written by Emma Baumhofer.
Living on the Frontline: What Kinmen and Gaza Teach About Peace Under Continuous Threat Written by Hazem Almassry.
Learning Across Borders: Taiwan, Gaza, and My Responsibility in an Unequal Reality Written by Roi Silbeberg.