After Genocide: Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Rwanda and Beyond

"In 'After Genocide', leading scholars and practitioners analyse the political, legal and regional impact of events in post-genocide Rwanda within the broader themes of transitional justice, reconstruction and reconciliation. Given the forthcoming fifteenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, and continued mass violence in Africa, especially in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Uganda, this volume is unquestionably of continuing relevance." -- from Website

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An Interactive Media: Reflections on Mega FM and Its Peacebuilding Role in Uganda

In stark contrast to the radio stations that escalated the Rwandan Genocide, Mega FM in Uganda is a strong voice for peace. This article describes their programming and how it has led to de-escalation and conflict transformation in one of the brutal rebellions in Africa.

Case Study

Burying the Past Making Peace or Doing Justice: Must We Choose?

Beginning with a conceptual approach to justice and forgiveness and moving to an examination of reconciliation on the political and on the psychological level, the collection examines the quality of peace as it has been forged in the civil conflicts in Rwanda, South Africa, Chile, Guatemala and Northern Ireland.

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Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding (CCDP)

The CCDP is the Graduate Institute's focal point for research in the areas of conflict analysis, humanitarianism, peacebuilding, and the complex relationships between security and development. Its research projects focus on the factors and actors that are implicated in the production and reproduction of violence within and between societies and states, as well as on policies and practices to reduce violence and insecurity and enhance development and peacebuilding initiatives at the international, state, and local levels.

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Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants

Disarming and demobilizing military forces (especially militias) and successfully reintegrating the former warriors into a peaceful society is one of the major challenges of a post-violence or "post-conflict" peacebuilding stage of a violent conflict.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Human Rights Promotion & Protection

This subsection addresses human rights promotion and protection as a central component of peacebuilding processes. The objective is to protect people from further abuses and address the structural, systemic conditions that give rise to human rights violations. A general improvement in the human rights situation is considered essential for the rehabilitation of war-torn societies. More important, the promotion and protection of human rights must aim to deepen a culture of human rights within a society, as an ongoing part of the nation-building and socio-political recovery process. As such, human rights promotion and protection contributes to the transformation of societal conditions that could potentially generate violence.

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Human Rights Watch: Kenyan Police Exploit Somali Refugees

Human Rights Watch warns of deteriorating conditions at the borders of Kenya and Somalia. The group calls for governments, the United Nations, and donors to address widespread violence, degrading detention, extortion, rape and providing security to asylum seekers.

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Humanitarian NGOs in Conflict Intervention

Article Summary

Humanization

Viewing one's opponent as evil, perverted, or criminal justifies violence and make acts that were previously unthinkable seem perfectly acceptable. The opposite of this is humanization, where opponents recognize their common humanity and feel empathy for for each other. Artists, journalists and teachers have traditionally played key roles in humanization.

Beyond Intractability Essay

International Regimes

This essay provides a brief overview of regimes -- what they are, what they do and how they do it (taking into account different theoretical views). It also explores questions that remain about their contributions to international relations, conflict prevention, and peace.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Management of Civil Wars and Genocidal Violence: Lessons from Statistical Research

This paper assesses the question of atrocities against civilians in the context of civil wars. It clarifies the magnitude of atrocities, the track record of peacekeeping operations in areas like Rwanda, Bosnia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and suggests an agenda for further discussion on management of violent civil wars through the lens of statistics.

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Mass Atrocity Response Operations (MARO) Military Planning Handbook

The new MARO Military Planning Handbook is the culmination of the MARO Project's efforts over the past two and a half years to develop concepts and tools. It highlights fundamental characteristics that planners and political decision-makers must appreciate as they consider responses to mass atrocity situations, and it explains the associated operational implications. It then walks through several key analytic exercises that are vital to assessing the situation and ensuring the appropriate means to respond with military and other resources.

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Mediators Without Borders: A Proposal to Resolve Political Conflicts

This essay gives guidelines for mediators who are working in cultures different from their own. It explains the nature of the problem such mediators face, gives strategies for addressing the problem and then outlines a "twelve-step program" for increasing the capacity of hostile communities to prevent, resolve, and recover from violent conflicts.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Meta-Conflict Resolution

Many conflict resolvers emphasize mediation, dialogue, or problem solving workshops as solutions to conflict. But intractable conflicts usually need a much more comprehensive approach. This article describes such an approach and articulates the various roles that must be carried out to successfully transform these conflicts.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Nation-Building and Conflict in Modern Africa

Nation-building has long been seen as an important focus for post-colonial African governments. However, up until now there has been no empirical analysis of either the origins or consequences of these policies. Here we compile an original dataset measuring nine different types of nation-building policies. Using Ordinary Least Squares regressions, we first show that nation-building policies are correlated with larger states and British colonialism. We then use logistic regressions to test the effect of such policies on civil wars using two different datasets of civil wars, and and no evidence that such policies have helped to prevent civil war.

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Negotiating Peace for Darfur: An Overview of Failed Processes

This essay evaluates the various attempts at peacemaking in Darfur, examining why they have failed and what will need to change if peace is to be achieved.

Case Study

Peace Agreements

This essay lays out an outline for understanding different types of peace agreements. The following essays discuss each type of agreement in more detail.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Peacebuilding

Peacebuilding is a long-term process that occurs after violent conflict has stopped. It is the phase of the peace process that takes place after peacemaking and peacekeeping.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Peaceful Change Strategies

Many distinguish between the "soft path" of negotiation and the "hard path" of force. This essay argues that this is a false dichotomy and that both strategies should be combined in order to transform conflict.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping is the prevention or ending of violence within or between nation-states through the intervention of an outside third party that keeps the warring parties apart. Unlike peacemaking, which involves negotiating a resolution to the issues in conflict, the goal of peacekeeping is simply preventing further violence. Peacekeeping can also happen at lower levels of conflict, in families, communities, or organizations.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Safe Havens

In recent conflicts, the civilian casualty rate has reached nine of 10 casualties, compared with only one of 10 at the beginning of the 20th century. Safe-havens are protected locations where refugees and war victims can come to escape the violence in their communities.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Special Affinities and Conflict Resolution: West African Social Institutions and Mediation

This essay describes a particular kind of interpersonal relationship common in West Africa called "joking kinship." This relationship has importance for conflict resolution and transformation in that region and has further implications for the way trainers and intervenors work in cultures different from the ones they are familiar with.

Beyond Intractability Essay

Strategic Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation: The Catholic Contribution to Peace

This essay tempers the popular idea that religion engenders violent conflict, by citing many examples in which religion (specifically the Roman Catholic Church and related entities) has worked to promote and sustain peace.

Case Study

The Brahimi Report and the Future of UN Peace Operations

This new study, led by William Durch and Victoria Holt, will assist both experts and generalists to deepen their understanding of how the UN and its peacekeeping department have worked to implement significant changes in its practices proposed three years ago.

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The Humanitarian Transformation: Expanding Global Intervention Capacity

"The Challenge to create a truly global capacity for peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention is difficult, but not so daunting or expensive as to excuse inaction. With minimal investments, which primarily entail states shifting military resources and force structures towards more useful ends, superior global capabilities to make a difference are achievable." -- from Website

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The Impossible Mandate? Military Preparedness, the Responsibility to Protect, and Modern Peace Operations

The particular focus of Tori Holt and Toby Berkman is moving from the lofty rhetoric of civilian protection to the practical issues for a military role, such as developing doctrine and training for forces deployed in peace operations. They explain why R2P, for all its compelling logic, actually falls through the cracks of planning and doctrine for peacekeeping missions, and offer some concrete suggestions for preventing such lacunae in the international community's responses to conflict. They also provide a useful guide to the range of concepts associated with civilian protection, and important insight into how military culture and practice translate the concept into actionable guidance to troops in the field.

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The Lawful Use of Force by Peacekeeping Forces: The Tactical Imperative

"The initiation of numerous UN peace operations by the Security Council since the end of the Cold War has been bolstered by strongly worded and finely crafted resolutions. However, the emphasis placed in such resolutions on restoring peace and security by 'all necessary means' loses its resonance when UN troops are constrained by their national law from employing sufficient force to achieve mission objectives." -- from Website

External Resource

Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Republic of Korea: Outline

"Under the 'Framework Act on Clearing up Past Incidents for Truth and Reconciliation', the Commission's purpose is to foster national legitimacy and reconcile the past for the sake of national unity by honoring those who participated in anti-Japanese movements and exposing the truth by investigating incidents regarding human rights abuses, violence, and massacres occurring since Japanese rule to the present time, specifically during the nation's authoritarian regimes." -- from Website

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UN Debate on Genocide Asks: Protect or Intervene?

"Out of genocides past and Africa's tumult a controversial but seldom-used diplomatic tool is emerging: The concept that the world has a "responsibility to protect" civilians against their own brutal governments. At the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pushed Tuesday for more intervention for the sake of protection." -- from Website

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