May 2026

VOlUME 05 ISSUE 05 May 2026
War, Structural Injustice, and Global Political Economy: Rethinking Armed Conflict through a Social Justice Perspective
To Thanh My
Thu Duc College of Technology
DOI : https://doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2026.v5i5n28

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ABSTRACT

This article examines war as a phenomenon shaped not only by interstate rivalry or individual moral responsibility, but also by structural inequality embedded within the global political economy. Drawing on political philosophy, global justice theory, critical social theory, and international political economy, the study argues that contemporary armed conflict is closely connected to institutional asymmetries involving economic dependency, technological competition, geopolitical vulnerability, and unequal distributions of power within the international order. The article critically engages realist theories of international relations and contemporary just war theory while emphasizing the limitations of approaches that interpret conflict primarily through military strategy or individual ethics. Instead, the study develops a structural framework linking political violence to broader systems of institutional organization and global governance. Particular attention is given to energy security, technological infrastructures, global supply chains, and structural forms of insecurity associated with globalization. The article argues that sustainable peace requires not only military regulation and diplomatic negotiation but also institutional reforms addressing structural inequality and geopolitical exclusion. The study contributes to contemporary debates on war and global justice by advancing an interdisciplinary framework connecting political violence to structural conditions within the contemporary global order.

KEYWORDS:

war; structural injustice; global political economy; global justice; armed conflict; international ethics; social justice

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Cite this Article:My, T. T. (2026). War, Structural Injustice, and Global Political Economy: Rethinking Armed Conflict through a Social Justice Perspective. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE HUMANITY & MANAGEMENT RESEARCHS, 5(5), 1176-1188. https://doi.org/10.58806/ijsshmr.2026.v5i5n28

VOlUME 05 ISSUE 05 May 2026

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