Search results

This paper explores selected interdisciplinary literature on peace. It examines the notion of peace from several perspectives. First, it compares some theoretical discussions on peace, contrasting Tagore and Gandhi with the contemporary writings of Amrtya Sen and Lederach. Second, it examines notions of peace proposed by women's groups. Third, it examines notions of peace emanating from the efforts taken after prolonged conflicts, such as Truth and Reconciliation Commissions and humanitarian efforts. Fourth, it looks at peace through art. This paper compares the contributions of these approaches toward developing a multilevel, holistic concept of building and sustaining peace.

This study attempts to introduce South Korea's unique experiences of civic operations made in Iraq and Lebanon. Koreans approached it with extreme caution since they are seeing through two different lenses: “paying back syndrome” from the Korean War experiences is colliding with the “Vietnam syndrome” from the experiences of Vietnam War. Expanding its regional role through revitalizing PKOs is not an easy job for the ROK government despite the fact that President Lee has committed himself to increase its efforts since his campaign days. South Korea recently decided to send its KDX-II type destroyer to Somalia for joining the maritime peacekeeping while people in Korea strongly suspect that the Obama administration would soon request to send its troops to Afghanistan as a part of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). As the Korean society is getting democratized, progressive NGOs have been opposing the government decision to send forces to assist the U.S. war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It remains to be seen how President Lee persuades people to bear the burden and endure sacrifices. At least, four problems need to be addressed for Korea to become a major troop-contributing country (TCC): first, Korea needs to enact laws to deal with South Korea's participation in the UN PKOs. Second, Korea needs to find a way to include civilian experts in future activities of UN PKOs. Third, it needs to increase the budget and size of standby forces. Lastly, it needs to educate people to understand why Korea has to contribute further to make a safer world. It remains to be seen whether South Korea will continue to focus on its stabilization and reconstruction efforts without sending its combat troops.

This paper aims to explore the state-building attempts in post conflict zones. The neoliberal economic system has dominated the key international organizations such that the latter have designed their approaches for state building based on it. The framework of these approaches focuses on minimal state interventions in the economy and free markets by being as a “one size fits all”. However, several prominent financial institutions such as the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund that have implemented some of these approaches in various regions resulted in limited success.

This paper is comparing two cases of state building before statehood and sovereignty, and this comparison comes in socioeconomic practices of international players and local governments.

This model has been carried out in Palestine and Kosovo but failed in meeting the expected demands of independence and prosperity. Instead, it resulted in more failures in the markets and caused a decline in the macro and micro economic indicators.

The key reasons for such failures, specifically in Palestine and Kosovo, are believed to be related to the top-down approach of policy-making, the lack of independence and sovereignty and the absence of popular and local participation in policies and plans. In such context, this approach has to be further revised to create a more inclusive participatory and representative model.

Peace on Earth has often been elusive, with more times on Earth spent at war rather than peace. This paper examines the nature of peace with its antithesis of war, focussing on the impact of war on the planet, which is not a primary consideration when war is waged. War leaves negative planetary legacies, which are of major concerns in times of population growth whilst living on a finite planet. Who should be responsible for planetary impact of war is considered, with some focus on government and other organisations. Collaborative strategies for caring for the planet through guidelines and level of departments of defence and national law-making organisations at national levels are discussed, as well as overviewing the focus and role of the United Nations and the associated Sustainability Goals. The paper concludes by suggesting that a more powerful way to influence us in our responsibilities to live peacefully, rather than a virtuous ‘should not’ approach, is the need to shift back to a moral positioning in our perspectives as humans being part of the ecosystem, so that we view ourselves as being at one with all life. In this perspective, if we incur harm to this planet, we are harming ourselves. Suggestions for living in a more peaceful way are drawn from indigenous wisdom and spiritual teachers, particularly the current Pope Francis.

This article presents a scenario based on the inputs of 550 futurists, scholars, business planners and policy advisers from around the world. Their views on global developments were distilled into a range of issues, opportunities and actions to address. These have been woven together into a scenario based on achieving norms by 2050 that were identified and rated by Millennium Project participants from around the world. This scenario describes how technological success, human development, and economic/political policies achieved a global economy that appears to be environmentally sustainable while providing nearly all people with the basic necessities of life and the majority with a comfortable living. The resulting social stability has created a relatively peaceful world and allowed the exploration of possible futures for the second half of the 21st century.

The purpose of this paper is to use Foucault’s genealogical analysis to problematise the influence of political agreements and resolutions on Cypriots’ social life and to examine spatial practices. At the same time, this paper deals with the implications of the UN’s vision for Pyla in Cyprus as a prototype of integrity and bi-communality. Furthermore, it analyses and problematises the UN mandate system in order to challenge “peace-keeping” strategies.

This investigation has been achieved through the author’s experience of situating and being in the site as well as through conducting site-specific interventions, performances, walking, observations, writing and interviews. Adding to these analytical methods, the involvement of the feminist theories in different ways allowed author to be more critical, reflexive and personal. In addition, the author critically analyses legal documents such as the Cyprus Constitution and the UN’s reports, documents and resolutions in order to understand the connection between politics and accordingly the creation of space.

This embedded critical spatial research into the in-between village Pyla establishes a new methodological understanding for design interventions that do not target a solution but, by implementing a reflexive practice, they create resistance practices. Focusing on these practices should allow a critical reflection on the previously applied urban development programs and their impact on Pyla and other cities and villages in Cyprus. The findings and outcomes that are presented through this research can be used by different powers for a critical reflection on the role of design in conflict situations.

One of the limitations of this research has been the lack of direct contact with the Greek Cypriot inhabitants of the village in order to understand their specific views on the conflict and their participation in the everyday life of the village. One of the reasons for this has been the differences in language which has made it difficult to approach the citizens and discuss their struggles as they would not necessarily confine in an outsider. Nonetheless, the author has tried to capture Greek Cypriot views in the circumstances of the UN and authorities meeting and, where possible has relied on literature to guide the understanding of the village life and Greek Cypriot role in it.

The author’s critical reflection on the unification-focused resolution strategies for the divided Cyprus (created by the UN, academics and architects) established the unique strength of this research paper. This research does not perceive the Cyprus conflict and its division as a problem, instead, it recognises the conflict and works within its division in order to understand the hidden political transformations, powers, appreciations and practices which become subordinate to the conflict. Different practices challenge the idea behind the normalisation processes that the UN aimed to achieve and reacts to those who came up with unification strategies; nonetheless, this should open new visions in the negotiations between the different powers.

The US foreign service was a civilian process until the end of the Second World War. Since then, the armed forces have encroached on the State Department's diplomatic mission. The Goldwater‐Nichols Act of 1986 authorized worldwide “Commands” in the Department of Defense. This left to the uniformed heads of the Commands the latitude – and funds – to usurp more of the diplomats’ foreign‐affairs authority within their geographic areas. It is time to change this strategy.

The fragile states and stabilisation concepts appear to resonate with the concept of community resilience. Yet, there is barely a framework that integrates the three concepts. The authors posit that despite the increasing interest in community resilience in fragile states, there is much less clarity of resilience, fragility and stabilisation connections. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This paper is based on the literature review of the concepts of community resilience, fragility and stabilisation.

The findings restate that the state fragility results from the breakdown of the social contract between the state and its citizens. Whilst both resilience and stabilisation are desirable constructs in reducing fragility, they should be broadly underpinned by agency not only to enhance preventive, anticipatory, absorptive and adaptive actions but also lead to social transformative capacity where agency is embedded for communities to exercise some sort of power to foster change.

This paper has encourages debate on resilience, fragility and stabilisation connections by suggesting framework for “doing” resilience-informed stabilisation programmes in fragile states. The framework, which may not necessarily be approached in a linear fashion, has three major components: identifying existing resilience factors, enhancing and sustaining these and delivering resilient communities. However, there is need to test the utility of the framework in practice.

Since the end of the Cold War, the number of UN peacekeeping operations deployed and their expenditures have significantly increased. Out of an estimated total amount of $44.81 billion spent on 61 UN peacekeeping operations, approximately $41.02 billion, or almost 92%, went to financing 50 missions between 1990 and 2006. There are two main reasons for this significant increase in spending: one is that international security is now threatened with multiple conflicts arising within nations; the second is the significant increase in UN responsibilities in international security. With the end of the Cold War, international strains have been replaced with civil unrest. Intrastate conflicts that were contained until then freely emerged in many developing countries, particularly in Africa. These sorts of conflicts can quickly spread to neighboring countries and seriously affect international security if no measure is taken for their resolution.

There are two critical steps involved in reducing enmity between two nations and transforming their relationship into one of mutual accommodation and ultimately even friendship. The first step is finding a way to break through the wall of mutual hostility and suspicion. That depends primarily on communication. Since messages are more powerfully and credibly communicated when they are carried by behavior as well as words, the Graduated Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction (GRIT) strategy is offered as a possible path to achieving this breakthrough. The second step is creating and cementing friendship by building strong positive ties. That depends on creating a system of properly structured economic relationships.

There is a longstanding debate as to whether economic relationships build peace or provoke war. But it is not simply the existence or the extent of economic relationships that is key to their impact – it is the character of these relationships. Economic relationships that are balanced and mutually beneficial create strong positive incentives to settle or manage conflicts short of violence while economic relationships that are unbalanced and exploitative produce hostility and create incentives for violent disruption.

If two nations that have long been enemies can begin to build peace, establishing a widening and deepening web of balanced, mutually beneficial economic relationships between them can support that peacebuilding process, strengthen it, and make it sustainable into the indefinite future. This paper defines and explores the aspects of balance that are most critical to creating peacebuilding economic relationships, as well as their connection to both economic development programs and environmental quality.