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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Peace studies
Until recently, Southeast Asia was plagued by separatist insurgencies that had simmered, seemingly intractable, for several decades. But peace processes in Indonesia and the Philippines have been some of the most innovative and successful in the world-a model and counterpoint for Thailand and other protracted conflicts. Since the 1970s, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand have wrestled with secessionist groups. Each government entered into peace talks then, though without any sincerity or willingness to make significant concessions. By the turn of the millennium, the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines began to reevaluate their strategies while insurgents came to the conclusion that the changed global environment and waning capabilities made victory unlikely. Further, the impact of the 2004 tsunami brought not only another impetus, but also the involvement of the international donor community and peace processes began in both countries where they were successfully implemented. Successful devolution of political and economic powers that protected the cultural rights of the minority population, as well as substantial wealth sharing brought an end to these conflicts. Such successful peace building efforts serve as both a model and counterpoint for Thailand. Each of the case studies begins with a history of the insurgency, an analysis of the insurgent group's organization, operations, tactics, and capabilities before delving into the history of the peace processes and analyzing the factors that made them successful. Nothing is harder than a peace process, but the lessons of Southeast Asia show that it is made possible through such factors as a national devaluation of power, bold and creative statesmanship, the successful neutralization of spoilers, and the role of neutral third party facilitators. These cases provide important lessons for the fields of counterinsurgency and peace making.
At the turn of the 21st Century, the world was immediately gripped by the War on Terrorism followed by the Iraq War. In reflection, the 20th Century was a period marked by tremendous technological and economic progress -- but it was also the most violent century in human history. It witnessed two horrendous world wars, as well as the conflicts during the Cold War. Why do wars persistently erupt among nations, particularly the Great Powers? What are the primary factors that drive nations to violence -- power, prestige, ideology or territory? Or is it motivated by pure fear and mistrust? Peering nervously at the 21st Century, we wonder whether American supremacy and globalization will help ensure peace and stability. Or will shifts in power with the emergence of new economic super-nations lead to further tensions and conflicts in this century? Together with 29 Peace Nobel laureates, an outstanding group of scholars gathered in Oslo, Norway, on December 6, 2001, for the three-day Nobel Centennial Symposium to discuss The Conflicts of the 20th Century and the Solutions for the 21st Century. Read this book for the scholars' candid insights and analyses, as well as their thought-provoking views on the factors that led to conflicts in the 20th Century and whether the 21st Century will be a more peaceful one. This is a rare -- and possibly the best and only book compilation of the highly intellectual analyses by world experts and Nobel Peace laureates on the perennial issues of War & Peace.
This major reference work is a comprehensive critical guide to the large and growing literature on the economics of defence, disarmament and peace. It covers the cost of defence spending and its effects on growth, investment, unemployment, technical change and other aspects of a nation's economic performance. It includes material on the determinants of defence spending namely defence budgets, programme budgeting and procurement policy. It also deals with the economic impact of arms limitation, disarmament and the conversion from military production to products with peaceful uses.
Civil society plays an increasingly powerful role in the global landscape, emerging as key actors in preventing and managing conflict, and building more peaceful and sustainable societies . The multiple case studies featured in this volume illustrate the growth of civil society involvement in national, regional, and international peacebuilding policy. The focus is on multi-stakeholder, systems-based approaches to peacebuilding and human security that involve diverse civil society groups (NGOs, religious organizations, media, etc.), government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and security forces. This unique comprehensive approach encompasses diverse stakeholders seeking to understand the drivers of conflict and the possibilities for working together to build peace. The book illustrates how the involvement of civil society can result in better informed, more inclusive, more accountable government decision making, and more effective peacebuilding policies. Importantly, a number of the case studies provide a gender perspective on peacebuilding and civil society issues, voicing and giving attention to women's perspectives without being focused only on gender issues. Further, authors from the Global South offer the perspectives of those directly immersed in ongoing struggles for justice and peace.
This book is a study of the key components and contradictions of the escalating global crisis and their impact on modern Australia. It elaborates the damage being done to democracy, human rights, and the fabric of society. Racism is structured in the universality of the nation-state and capitalism in the 21st century. Racism is a process that discriminates and segregates the human species, creating major conflicts and antagonisms. It generates a global struggle for equality and social justice. The global crisis is energised by the contradiction between a global capitalism that is in effect totalitarian and the imperatives of economic growth driving every nation-state of the world. Racism is embodied in the emergence of a new imperialism to maintain Western global hegemony, a growing source of instability and violence in the world system, endangering the survival of humanity. The book advocates the promotion of full democratic participation in the struggle for social, political, and economic equality.
Redrawing the Map to Promote Peace, by Jaroslav Tir, primarily focuses on the management of territorial disputes and how they are altered by territorial change. Territorial shifts can sometimes lead to war, which is why Tir explores the contributing factors that lead to these disputes. He states two primary variables associated with the change-dispute relationship: the value of the territory in question and how the territorial changes occur. Tir also discusses three types of territorial change: interstate territorial transfers, secessions, and unifications. Despite the likelihood of territorial dispute stemming from territorial changes, this book provides evidence supporting the claim that territorial change can be handled in a manner that could decrease the probability of dispute. Tir offers insight into some contributing factors of these disputes and how they impact the hope for peace in the future.
This book offers a unique perspective on changing gender practices in post-conflict societies, looking at when and how masculinities change after armed conflicts. Building on original research data from Liberia, chapters look at the pathways of change in societal discourses, security sector institutions, and at the level of formatter combatants. Scrutinising the potential of peacebuilding for making conflict-related masculinities change after armed conflicts, the book develops a theoretical model that helps to understand both how violence-centred masculinities change after armed conflicts, and why profound changes of violent gender practices occur only rarely. What this book hopes to show is that masculinities can and do change after armed conflicts. Illuminating the intricate interrelationship between gendered practices within societal discourses, security sector institutions, and at the individual level in post-conflict societies, this book constitutes an invitation to rethinking our understanding of peacebuilding practices and their interconnectedness with gender, violence, and peace.
While serving in United Nations peacekeeping missions, some peacekeepers sexually exploit and abuse the local population, a fact which erupted into a scandal published by many media outlets in 2005 and 2006. This book analyzes factors which may increase the risk of such behavior as well as measures the UN has taken which may have decreased the number of incidents. Using a mixed methods design, the book argues that previous analyses have been largely undertheorized-with the exception of gender theories-and turns to criminology to look at the phenomenon of so-called "Sexual Exploitation and Abuse" (SEA) in a new light. The three risk factors found to increase the likelihood of SEAs are an environment of sexual violence in the mission's host country, the presence of internally displaced persons close to the mission, and a lack of supervised or regulated contact with the local population. In turn, the presence of an office whose purpose is to collect reports and investigate allegations, training on preventing SEAs for the incoming peacekeepers, and campaigns to empower the local population on these issues all seem to reduce the risk of sexual exploitation and abuse occurring. By using a statistical analysis followed by case studies of the UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and the Golan Heights, the author demonstrates the importance these factors have in the peacekeepers' behavior on the mission, providing a solid basis upon which future policy recommendations can be made.
This book explores the political history of Liberia and its descent to civil war, the regional ramifications of the war, and conflict intervention and peacekeeping efforts. It also examines the problems, challenges, and opportunities of post-war reconstruction and peacebuilding. It is comprised of various academic and policy contributions by Liberian specialists and Liberian-based scholars. The policy contributions have been crafted in part to articulate policy-relevant recommendations and strategies for the consolidation of peace to avert a recurrence of war and large-scale disruptive conflicts in the future.
Focusing on Greater Khartoum following South Sudanese independence in 2011, In-Betweenness in Greater Khartoum explores the impact on society of major political events in areas that are neither urban nor rural, public nor private. This volume uses these in-between spaces as a lens to analyze how these events, in combination with other processes, such as globalization and economic neo-liberalization, impact communities across the region. Drawing on original fieldwork and empirical data, the authors uncover the reshaping of new categories of people that reinforce old dichotomies and in doing so underscore a common Sudanese identity.
Despite growing interest in democracy promotion, the nature and extent of external factors' impact on democratic transitions to date remains understudied. The question of what works under what circumstances is still intensely contested among academics, policy-makers, and practitioners. Liberal Interventionism and Democracy Promotion, edited by Dursun Peksen, contributes to the study of international democracy promotion, exploring the extent to which various forms of foreign interventions and policy actors that advocate political liberalization affect the spread of democracy. The contributors in this study specifically address issues highly relevant to the academic research and policymaking, including the evaluation of the efficacy of four major tools-economic sanctions, foreign aid, external armed interventions, and soft power-that are often used to advance political liberalization in authoritarian regimes. The book also assesses the performance of four major non-state actors-the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the European Union, and transnational human rights organizations-that have become increasingly influential in advocating the spread of civil liberties and political rights. Liberal Interventionism and Democracy Promotion's comprehensive assessment of the efficacy of major policy instruments and actors that advocate political liberalization offers a greater understanding of what works best and when in the practice of democracy promotion. This collection is an essential contribution to the study of democracy promotion and international relations.
Redrawing the Map to Promote Peace, by Jaroslav Tir, primarily focuses on the management of territorial disputes and how they are altered by territorial change. Territorial shifts can sometimes lead to war, which is why Tir explores the contributing factors that lead to these disputes. He states two primary variables associated with the change-dispute relationship: the value of the territory in question and how the territorial changes occur. Tir also discusses three types of territorial change: interstate territorial transfers, secessions, and unifications. Despite the likelihood of territorial dispute stemming from territorial changes, this book provides evidence supporting the claim that territorial change can be handled in a manner that could decrease the probability of dispute. Tir offers insight into some contributing factors of these disputes and how they impact the hope for peace in the future.
This book explores the challenges of combating terrorism from a policing perspective using the example of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC (RUC) in Northern Ireland. The RUC was in the frontline of counter-terrorism work for thirty years of conflict during which time it also provided a normal policing service to the public. However, combating a protracted and vicious terrorist campaign exacted a heaving price on the force. Importantly, the book addresses a seriously under-researched theme in terrorism studies, namely, the impact of terrorism on members of the security forces. Accordingly, the book examines how officers have been affected by the conflict as terrorists adopted a strategy which targeted them both on and off duty. This resulted in a high percentage of officers being killed whilst off duty - sometimes in the company of their wives and children. The experience of officers' wives is also documented thus highlighting the familial impact of terrorism. Generally speaking, the victims of terrorist attacks have received scant scholarly attention which has resulted in victims' experiences being little understood. This piece of work casts a specific and unique light on the nature of victimhood as it has been experienced by members of this branch of the security forces in Northern Ireland.
This book examines the challenges foreign fighter returnees from Syria and Iraq pose to Western countries. A number of returnees have demonstrated that they are willing to use violence against their home countries, and some have already staged terrorist attacks on Western soil on apparent orders from ISIS. Through the historical context of previous waves of mobilizations of Islamist foreign fighters, the author tracks the experiences of returnees from previous conflicts and discusses the major security challenges associated with them. The book analyzes the major approaches implemented by Western countries in response to foreign fighter returnees, discusses the prosecution of returnees, and evaluates the corresponding challenges of prison radicalization.
This volume on ""Education towards a Culture of Peace"" is a timely undertaking, since the United Nations has proclaimed the years 2001-2010 as the ""International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World."" A culture of peace as defined by the UN is ""a set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations"". (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13 1998: Culture of Peace and A/RES/53/243, 1999: Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace). Most of the chapters in this book are based on lectures that were presented at the International Conference, ""Education towards a Culture of Peace"". This conference was convened on 1-3 December 2003, by the The Josef Burg Chair in Education for Human Values, Tolerance and Peace - UNESCO Chair on Human Rights, Democracy, Peace and Tolerance School of Education, at Bar Ilan University, Israel.This international gathering was attended by prominent scholars of Human Rights and Peace from Canada, Chile, Croatia, Germany, Mauritius the Netherlands's, The United States, the Palestinian Authority and Israel. Australian, Indian, Jordanian and Moroccan colleagues also submitted papers. This conference was held under the auspices of Israel National Commission for UNESCO and supported also by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem, The office of Public Affairs of the US Embassy Tel Aviv, Fulbright - United States - Israel Educational Foundation
"Why haven't we been successful in finding sustainable solutions?" is a question that this book attempts to address. This book questions the appropriateness of current approaches to international conflict mediation/peacebuilding and whether today's practitioners have the necessary patience, passion, and training to manage twenty?first?century conflicts. This book also examines whether the current approaches to the mediation of international conflict and peacebuilding, as well as the education in these fields, effectively consider the influence of the post?Cold War environment and whether they address sub?national conflicts caused by the continually increasing social inequality within societies, among parties with different cultural, religious, racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. The narratives of the lived experiences of this book's contributors are used to illustrate the challenges associated with achieving sustained global peace in the twenty?first century. Using the author's conversations with the contributors to the book, as well as educators, this book suggests that a universally adopted answer to the book's underlying question has not yet been established. Therefore, the objective of this book is to start a public conversation about reforming the current education and practices used in the mediation of international conflicts and peacebuilding. The author hopes that these reforms will enable practitioners in integrating the message of the youth uprisings across the globe in finding sustainable resolutions to social inequality-based conflicts within their societies and among countries across the globe. As all of the citizens of the world continue to live in the midst of conflicts erupting across the globe, this book brings to the surface the urgent and acute need for finding better approaches to address this century's social inequality?based conflicts. This book seeks to bring hope and to energize individuals with different cultural, religious, ethnic, racial and linguistic backgrounds, as well as individuals with different professional and personal lived experiences to collaboratively work together to achieve sustainable global peace. The author hopes that this book will foster among students, educators, and practitioners a better understanding of international conflict mediators' approaches for accommodating the inter?relationship between culture and the mediation of international conflicts.
This text offers American and Russian perspectives on the evolution of the US Russian post- Cold War security relationship obstacles and opportunities in bilateral co-operation and critical security challenges for the two countries on the threshold of the 21st-century. American and Russian contributors discuss prospects for managing a range of issues encompassing both traditional military aspects of security, as well as in depth exploration of the broader non military dimensions of international security. The book is designed to challenge readers to think about some of the most pressing security issues of our time and the roles and responsibilities of the United States and Russia in preserving global stability and peace beyond the millennium.
Perspectives in Waging Conflicts Constructively offers diverse perspectives on how large-scale conflicts can be conducted with more positive benefits, minimizing their destructiveness. Distinguished analysts and practitioners review the core ideas of the innovative "constructive conflict approach" and examine cases where conflicts have been waged with fewer destructive consequences. An introduction presents key concepts in constructive conflict resolution, and chapters offer cases of these theories in action. Cases feature both global and regional examples ranging from Israel to North Korea. The book also contains recommendations for policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and citizens about how stakeholders at all levels might help avoid destructive patterns that are common in large-scale conflict while working for positive change. Contributors include Patrick G. Coy, Esra Cuhadar, Bruce W. Dayton, Martina Fischer, Galia Golan, Louis Kriesberg, Christopher Mitchell, Robert Murrett, Thania Paffenholz, Lee Smithey, and Steven Zunes.
"Ending violent conflict requires societies to take leaps of political imagination. Artistic communities are often uniquely placed to help promote new thinking by enabling people to see things differently. In place of conflict's binary divisions, artists are often charged with exploring the ambiguities and possibilities of the excluded middle. Yet, their role in peacebuilding remains little explored. This excellent and agenda-setting volume provides a ground-breaking look at a range of artistic practices, and the ways in which they have attempted to support peacebuilding - a must-read for all practitioners and policy-makers, and indeed other peacemakers looking for inspiration."Professor Christine Bell, FBA, Professor of Constitutional Law, Assistant Principal (Global Justice), and co-director of the Global Justice Academy, The University of Edinburgh, UK "Peacebuilding and the Arts offers an impressive and impressively comprehensive engagement with the role that visual art, music, literature, film and theatre play in building peaceful and just societies. Without idealizing the role of the arts, the authors explore their potential and limits in a wide range of cases, from Korea, Cambodia, Colombia and Northern Ireland to Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa and Israel-Palestine."Roland Bleiker, Professor of International Relations, University of Queensland, Australia, and author of Aesthetics and World Politics and Visual Global Politics "Peacebuilding and the Arts is the first publication to focus critically and comprehensively on the relations between the creative arts and peacebuilding, expanding the conventional boundaries of peacebuilding and conflict transformation to include the artist, actor, poet, novelist, dramatist, musician, dancer and film director. The sections on the visual arts, music, literature, film and theatre, include case studies from very different cultures, contexts and settings but a central theme is that the creative arts can play a unique and crucial role in the building of peaceful and just societies, with the power to transform relationships, heal wounds, and nurture compassion and empathy. Peacebuilding and the Arts is a vital and unique resource which will stimulate critical discussion and further research, but it will also help to refine and reframe our understanding of peacebuilding. While it will undoubtedly become mandatory reading for students of peacebuilding and the arts, its original approach and dynamic exploratory style should attract a much wider interdisciplinary audience."Professor Anna King, Professor of Religious Studies and Social Anthropology and Director of Research, Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace (WCRRP), University of Winchester, UK This volume explores the relationship between peacebuilding and the arts. Through a series of original essays, authors consider some of the ways that different art forms (including film, theatre, music, literature, dance, and other forms of visual art) can contribute to the processes and practices of building peace. This book breaks new ground, by setting out fresh ways of analysing the relationship between peacebuilding and the arts. Divided into five sections on the Visual Arts, Music, Literature, Film and Theatre/Dance, over 20 authors offer conceptual overviews of each art form as well as new case studies from around the globe and critical reflections on how the arts can contribute to peacebuilding. As interest in the topic increases, no other book approaches this complex relationship in the way that Peacebuilding and the Arts does. By bringing together the insights of scholars and practitioners working at the intersection of the arts and peacebuilding, this book develops a series of unique, critical perspectives on the interaction of diverse art forms with a range of peacebuilding endeavours.
In the midst of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, civil war, and political discord, courageous civilians from both sides are working together toward mutual understanding and peace. In 40 captivating chapters, experts tell intriguing personal stories, interwoven with psychosocial models and principles, describing how people living in hostile cultures can establish harmony. We come to know established programs like Seeds of Peace and Search for Common Ground, as well as lesser-heralded, yet valiant efforts by children and adults of the region. This hope-filled work will be of interest to everyone who cares about peace, as well as to professionals and students in the social sciences, psychology, international relations, public policy, human rights, and cross-cultural studies. In the midst of ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, civil war, and political discord, courageous civilians from both sides are working together toward mutual understanding and peace. Israeli Jews and Arabs, and Palestinian Muslims and Christians, young and old, men and women, are cooperating in grassroots people-to-people projects, developing educational programs and creating activities to bridge their differences. Beyond Bullets and Bombs showcases such impressive and important projects that deserve more support and world attention. In 40 captivating chapters, experts tell intriguing personal stories interwoven with psychosocial models and principles proving how people living in hostile cultures can establish peace. This collection is the perfect companion to Kuriansky's earlier book, Terror in the Holy Land: Inside the Anguish of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, an unprecedented work that presents more than 30 chapters written by Israelis, Palestinians, and psychological experts on the underpinnings and effects of the conflict. In the volume at hand, we come to know established programs like Seeds of Peace and Search for Common Ground, as well as lesser-heralded, yet valiant efforts by children and adults of the region working together for peace. Both volumes will be of interest to everyone who cares about peace, as well as to professionals and students in the social sciences, psychology, international relations, public policy, human rights, and cross-cultural studies. |
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