Conflict Prevention and Decentralized Governance

Is there a link between decentralized governance and conflict prevention? This article tries to answer the question by presenting the state of the art of the intersection of both concepts. Provided that social conflict is inevitable and given the appearance of new threats and types of violence, as well as new demands for security based on people (human security), our societies should focus on promoting peaceful changes. Through an extensive analysis of the existing literature and the study of several cases, this paper suggests that decentralized governance can contribute to these efforts by transforming conflicts, bringing about power-sharing and inclusion incentives of minority groups. Albeit the complexity of assessing its impact on conflict prevention, it can be contended that decentralized governance might have very positive effects on the reduction of causes that bring about conflicts due to its ability to foster the creation of war/violence preventors. More specifically, this paper argues that decentralization can have a positive impact on the so-called triggers and accelerators (short- and medium-term causes).decentralization; conflict prevention; federalism

What Can Faith-Based Forms of Violent Conflict Prevention Teach Us About Liberal Peace?

Faith-based actors are often recognised as contributors to both conflict and peace. However, their work to prevent violent conflict, rather than bring an end to or recover from it, is largely unexplored. This is despite the growth of conflict prevention as a global social norm and field of practice. Based on collaborative research with faith groups and organisations in Nigeria, the Solomon Islands and Zanzibar (Tanzania), this paper examines faith-based forms of violent conflict prevention. It argues that faith-based approaches exist on a spectrum, from instinctive and ad hoc initiatives run by individuals and local places of worship to large-scale, systematised interventions led by global faith-based development organisations. Yet, while faith-based approaches to violent conflict prevention vary in form and function, they are consistent and distinctive in their emphasis on building resilient relationships at the local level, modelling forms of prevention embedded within local culture and that recognise the emotional and spiritual dimensions of transformative change. Faith-based approaches offer insights valuable to the wider conflict prevention field, which is increasingly critiqued for its liberal underpinnings and emphasis on technical and technological solutionism. Lessons emerge for others implementing prevention programmes, who could adapt elements of the unhurried, values-led, relationally sensitive approach demonstrated by some faith-based actors, albeit within their own structural limitations. Policymakers should support such adaptations and expand their view of prevention to explicitly include faith-based forms of activity, as to do otherwise risks missing opportunities and reproducing existing failures

Spending to save: Prospective case studies.

This case study considers the relative costs of conflict prevention and post-crisis intervention for Sudan during the period 2004-2018

Economic Agendas in Civil Wars: What We Know, What We Need to Know

civil war, conflict prevention, human security

The Theory of Conflict Prevention. What can Kosovo draw out of it?

The article discusses the theories of the concept of conflict prevention. Kosovo political elites should, if they really want to stabilize the new country, take findings and recommendations of the theory of conflict prevention into consideration, and then find their own way (practice) how to address the problems, related to conflict prevention arising from political, social, economic and cultural sphere. Afterwards, the decisionmakers and high officials have to model their own specific strategies and policies of conflict prevention in order to reduce possibilities of new escalation of violence. The article discusses some historical and modern explanations of origins of violence and the relation between them and conflict prevention. The article also explains the development of the concept of modern conflict prevention, beginning in the framework of the United Nations in 1960’s and culminating in comprehensive approach of conflict prevention in the European Union and some other international organizations. Difference between structural and operation conflict prevention is explained in last part of the article, with argumentation the structural conflict prevention is necessity for Kosovo as a newly emerged political entity in the Western Balkans

Spending to save: Is conflict prevention cost-effective.

YesThe objective of this study is to provide an evidence base concerning the costs and benefits of conflict prevention (CP) activities (defined as those activities undertaken primarily to reduce the risk of conflict), compared with those of engaging after large-scale conflict has begun

Peacebuilding: A broad review of approaches, policies and practices

This background paper has been produced for a workshop on “Civil society views on next generation peacebuilding and conflict prevention policy and programming issues and responses”, convened by Peacebuild in Ottawa on March 14, 2011 with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

The Deep Roots of Swiss Conflict Prevention

David Lanz's chapter draws attention to how conflict prevention represents a fundamental interest for Switzerland because of its geopolitical disposition as a small state with a federal structure and a heterogeneous society. Switzerland's political system is underpinned by the need to manage diversity in that heterogeneous society, accommodating people speaking different languages, practicing different religions, and having different socio-economic backgrounds, in order to ensure peaceful coexistence. How to explain Switzerland's focus on conflict prevention? What are the deep roots of Switzerland's internal and external conflict prevention efforts? How does Switzerland prevent conflict? This chapter explores these questions as a contribution to this project. It first outlines Switzerland's geopolitical profile, taking into account its geography, economy, demography, and political history. It then surveys Swiss infrastructures for preventing internal conflict and finally looks at the country's policy to prevent conflicts abroad. Lanz gives two concluding insights derived from Switzerland's experience in conflict prevention. The first underlines the deep roots of conflict prevention, anchored in Switzerland's nature, to the extent that over time it has become part of the national identity, as many citizens consider conflict prevention a core value to be upheld inside the country and to be promoted internationally. The second is that, while some aspects of Swiss conflict prevention are specific to the national context, there are aspects of the country's experience in conflict prevention - for example, managing diversity in society through a multi-layered system of power-sharing - that offer relevant lessons for other countries

How to Prevent before You Must Cure – A Comprehensive Literature Review on Conflict Management Strategies in Global Project Teams

Global project teams are frequently confronted with diverse conflicts. As these teams involve people from different cultures, who work at different locations, they are more prone to conflicts than collocated teams. Geographical dispersion and dependency on information and communication technology entail more challenges for conflict management. In this study, we examine prior literature on cross-cultural conflicts and conflict prevention, management and resolution. We found that previous research on conflict prevention in global project teams is scarce. Therefore, we discuss effective conflict prevention methods and develop a model of a conflict prevention process. This paper contributes to the field in two ways: first, it structures existing literature on conflicts in global project teams, and secondly, it can be used by practitioners to improve conflict prevention in their global project teams

The Prevention of Armed Conflicts as an Emerging Norm in International Conflict Management: The OSCE and the UN as Norm Leaders

This article explores the emergence of conflict prevention as an emerging norm in international conflict management. In particular, it examines the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations as primary actors in the construction and promotion of conflict prevention as an international norm. The article describes some of the major instruments that both organizations have already developed to implement the prevention of armed conflict on a more consistent rather than ad hoc basis. The article traces the emergent norm of conflict prevention through three stages—the awarenessraising and advocacy stage; the acceptance and institutionalization stage; and the internationalization stage. Although it is argued that conflict prevention as an emerging norm may eventually become firmly institutionalized and internationalized, at this point in time it remains for the most part in the advocacy stage. Regional organizations, such as the OSCE, have been more successful in moving conflict prevention toward acceptance and institutionalization, albeit on a regional level