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Encouraging Agreement-Based Problem Solving
After returning from his post leading an interrogations team in Iraq, Matthew Alexander emphasizes the need for negotiation-based interrogation in place of torture. Alexander argues that methods used by the United States' military in order to obtain information have encouraged violence against American troops that could be avoided with different (and arguably more effective) interrogation techniques.
While lockouts, strikes and shutdowns - in politics and sports - are nothing new, these recent developments suggest that something in our culture is changing. In short, compromise has become a bad word. Grand bargains are no longer seen as grand. Lonely stands - whether principled or political - are prized.
"Following a long time of Somali pirates' attacks along the eastern African coast and the Gulf of Aden, the East African Community member states are seeking cooperation to suppress and prevent the attacks." At a meeting held in Feb. 2010, the ministers of the East African Community agreed to the establishment of a regional maritime patrol unit, and to tap into the current international goodwill and pool resources to fund it.
Gates made the case that, historically, sanctions have worked when there's broad international support — which he believes the U.S. has in its policy toward Iran and that nation's question for nuclear capabilities.
This article argues that policymakers must embrace a new paradigm of peacemaking. Policymakers need to value the diversity of unofficial actors who contribute to ending violent conflict, and recognize that peace agreements have to work at many levels, from the village to the parliament. They need to understand that inclusive processes are more likely to generate the popular support necessary for sustainable settlement, capable both of resolving current conflict and preventing future violence.
The fact that civil society groups play important roles in post-conflict peacebuilding has entered the mainstream of international conflict resolution dogma. Rarely do local civil society groups get a seat at the negotiation table for peace accords. Although the exclusion of civil society from peace negotiations may streamline the process, the absence of civil society voices and interests at the negotiating table can negatively impact the sustainability of a peace agreement during peacebuilding.
In response to growing interest among communities to learn which conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities work, which do not and why, "two Networks of the OECD-DAC, working on conflict and on evaluation, initiated a process to develop guidance on evaluating conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities."
This working paper was produced to describe Peace Education programs in UNICEF. Peace education programs have been developed in a number of UNICEF country offices and National Committees for UNICEF over the past decade. Ideas are continually evolving about how to use the full range of children's educational experiences to promote commitment to principles of peace and social justice.
In this TED Talk, "William Ury, author of 'Getting to Yes,' offers an elegant, simple (but not easy) way to create agreement in even the most difficult situations - from family conflict to, perhaps, the Middle East." -- from Website
