Still the Spectre at the Feast: Comparisons between Peacekeeping and Imperialism in Peacekeeping Studies Today

The sheer ambition and scale of UN peacebuilding today inevitably invokes comparison with historic practices of colonialism and imperialism, from critics and supporters of peacebuilding alike. The legitimacy of post-settlement peacebuilding is often seen to hinge on the question of the extent to which it transcends historic practices of imperialism. This article offers a critique of how these comparisons are made in the extant scholarship, and argues that supporters of peacekeeping deploy an under-theorized and historically one-sided view of imperialism. The article argues that the attempt to flatter peacebuilding by comparison with imperialism fails, and that the theory and history of imperialism still provide a rich resource for both the critique and conceptualization of peacekeeping practice. The article concludes by suggesting how new forms of imperial power can be projected through peacebuilding

A Global View of Women\u27s Involvement in Peacekeeping Activities in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia

Related literature showed that women’s participation in peacebuilding activities are for the survival of the family and for the protection loved ones. In that note, this paper looked into the peacebuilding activities of women from three Southeast Asian countries, namely: Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, to see: 1) if women from these three countries also engaged in peacebuilding for the survival and the concern over the family; and 2) if their engagement in peacebuilding activities served as opportunities for them to become empowered or it greatly supported and extended the existing traditional roles assigned to women. Seven profiles of women from 1000 PeaceWomen were examined to find answers to the inquiries raised above. These profiles, particularly the women’s activities, were compared and contrasted. The results confirmed the literature. It showed that the seven women peace activists from Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, engaged in peacebuilding activities to ensure that the children, youth, women, and the members of their respective communities, in general, were safe and secured. Furthermore, the peacebuilding activities that these women initiated still supported the traditional image of women, as the protector of life, the caretaker, and extended the performance of women’s traditional roles, such as taking care of the children, in their respective societies. It is proposed that women should not just be limited into this sphere of peacebuilding, but should also be included in the decision-making arena. This would not only enhance women’s image and role in their respective societies, but also provide a new face to any peace processes and the status of armed conflict in these countries

NGOs and Peacebuilding in Kosovo

YesThe growing international interest in peacebuilding as a concept and programme area requires a criticalunderstanding if its implementation on the ground. This audit aims to explore the definitions and applicationsof peacebuilding employed by local and international NGOs in Kosovo today

A theoretical framework for analysing the contribution of education to sustainable peacebuilding: 4Rs in conflict-affected contexts

This paper presents the theoretical and analytic framework for a Research Consortium on Education and Peacebuilding supported by UNICEF’s Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy (PBEA) programme which began in July 2014 led by the Universities of Amsterdam, Sussex and Ulster. The consortium seeks to build knowledge on the relationship between education and peacebuilding in conflict‐affected contexts and has emerged out of a long‐standing relationship between the authors, UNICEF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands that stretches back to 2006

Draft Declaration: Women's Economic Empowerment for Peacebuilding

This document presents the members of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission. Assembled at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 26 September 2013, under the chairmanship of Her Excellency Vesna Pusi?, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, to reaffirm the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peacebuilding, as outlined in Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security; and to affirm our commitment to promote the economic empowerment of women for peacebuilding

Imagining the Great Lakes Region: discourses and practices of civil society regional approaches for peacebuilding in Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo

The idea has gained ground in recent years that, as conflicts in the countries of the Great Lakes Region are strongly interlinked, regional approaches are necessary to resolve them. This interest in regional dimensions of conflict and peacebuilding also gains currency in other parts of the world. Attention to regional approaches is reflected in the efforts of international organisations and donors to promote civil society peacebuilding. They assume that regional cooperation and exchange between civil society organisations contribute to peace, and provide an alternative to single-country interventions or regional diplomatic initiatives. This paper explores how such assumptions work out in practice. Experiences in the Great Lakes Region show that local and international organisations have difficulty in analysing the regional character of conflict and arriving at collaborative regional strategies. Moreover, local civil society organisations are deeply embedded in the politics of regional conflict. Consequently, the shift to regional peacebuilding approaches remains more theoretical than practical. This paper suggests that international supporting organisations need to adjust their ambitions in regional peacebuilding, but nonetheless have roles in fostering regional identification among civil society organisations

Short-term and long-term effects of United Nations peace operations

Earlier studies have shown that United Nations peace operations make a positive contribution to peacebuilding efforts after civil wars. But do these effects carry over to the period after the peacekeepers leave? And how do the effects of UN peace operations interact with other determinants of peacebuilding in the long run? The author addresses these questions using a revised version of the Doyle and Sambanis dataset and applying different estimation methods to estimate the short-term and long-term effects of UN peace missions. He finds that UN missions have robust, positive effects on peacebuilding in the short term. UN missions can help parties implement peace agreements but the UN cannot fight wars, and UN operations contribute more to the quality of the peace where peace is based on participation, than to the longevity of the peace, where peace is simply the absence of war. The effects of UN missions are also felt in the long run, but they dissipate over time. What is missing in UN peacebuilding is a strategy to foster the self-sustaining economic growth that could connect increased participation with sustainable peace.Post Conflict Reintegration,Peace&Peacekeeping,International Affairs,Post Conflict Reconstruction,Politics and Government

Peace Laboratory of Magdalena Medio: a peace laboratory"? "

This paper focuses on a very original and peculiar peacebuilding experience - the Peace Laboratory of Magdalena Medio. Based on the civil society and located in a highly conflictual region of Colombia, it represents a peacebuilding from below initiative with the political and financial support of the European Union. The Peace Laboratory seeks new paths to peace and development and an alternative model of peacebuilding, in a country which desperately needs new and imaginative solutions and formulas to peace.Above all, what is at stake is to question if the Peace Laboratory is a real peace laboratory" and where is it heading for."

Taking Our Experience Home: A Journey in URI Peacebuilding

Who are we? We are members of URI Cooperation Circles. Representing diverse backgrounds, traditions and life experiences, we have come together, at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI), to study and share, to help formulate practices for URI Peacebuilding.We've come to learn, to develop skills, to imagine and design effective programs for Peacebuilding for our Cooperation Circles and to share whatwe have learned with our colleagues. This booklet contains the stories of our journey to date -- stories of who we are, where we have come from, and whatwe are taking back to our CCs.In this report,each of us has chosen to write from our own experience,in our own unique way -- about our personal spiritual journeys into interfaith peacebuilding or how our Cooperation Circle developed or what we will take home from our learnings at SPI

Peacebuilding After Civil War

Book Summary: This comprehensive new Handbook explores the significance and nature of armed intrastate conflict and civil war in the modern world. Civil wars and intrastate conflict represent the principal form of organised violence since the end of World War II, and certainly in the contemporary era. These conflicts have a huge impact and drive major political change within the societies in which they occur, as well as on an international scale. The global importance of recent intrastate and regional conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia, Nepal, Cote d\u27Ivoire, Syria and Libya – amongst others – has served to refocus academic and policy interest upon civil war. Chapter Summary: This chapter provides an assessment of current theories regarding peacebuilding efforts following civil war, evaluates UN peacebuilding efforts over the past 20 years, and offers suggestions regarding future research on the topic