Towards more effective peace building: a conversation with Roland Paris* (original) (raw)
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Post conflict recovery and peace building
2010
Civil wars are the most common type of large scale violent conflict. They are long, brutal and continue to harm societies long after the shooting stops. Post-conflict countries face extraordinary challenges with respect to development and security. In this paper we examine how countries can recover economically from these devastating conflicts and how international interventions can help to build lasting peace. We revisit the aid and growth debate and confirm that aid does not increase growth in general. However, we find that countries experience increased growth after the end of the war and that aid helps to make the most of this peace dividend. However, aid is only growth enhancing when the violence has stopped, in violent post-war societies aid has no growth enhancing effect. We also find that good governance is robustly correlated with growth, however we cannot confirm that aid increases growth conditional on good policies. We examine various aspects of aid and governance by disaggregating the aid and governance variables. Our analysis does not provide a clear picture of which types of aid and policy should be prioritized. We find little evidence for a growth enhancing effect of UN missions and suggest that case studies may provide better insight into the relationship between security guarantees and economic stabilization.
A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO ANALYSE CONSEQUENCES OF POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION INTERVENTIONS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY (ISSN-2693-0803), 2024
This study examines the intricate dynamics of post-conflict reconstruction (PCR) to develop a conceptual framework for analysing the various consequences of interventions in this complicated field. The study employs a mixed-methods strategy combining a comprehensive literature assessment and conceptual analysis. The literature review explores multiple theoretical frameworks on PCR, including perspectives from political economics, development studies, and peacebuilding. Using the conceptual analysis approach, establishing a comprehensive framework is the outcome of a methodical investigation into the interaction between context, intervention, and outcomes in PCR. The paradigm is then utilized to analyse case studies of Rwanda, the Central African Republic, and The Gambia, offering practical observations and empirical evidence. The findings demonstrate that PCR treatments yield diverse outcomes, encompassing both intended and unanticipated consequences. The study highlights the crucial significance of contextual elements, such as the participation of global entities, power dynamics, and historical legacies, in determining the effectiveness of interventions. The study determines that PCR is a complex and detailed process requiring a comprehensive understanding of the interaction between environment, intervention, and outcomes. The suggested conceptual framework offers a valuable tool for assessing the complex effects of PCR initiatives, allowing policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to create and execute more efficient and contextually appropriate interventions. The research highlights the importance of continuous efforts to advance evidence-based strategies that foster lasting peace and fair development in societies recovering from war. This helps to bridge the gap between theory and practical implementation.
Identifying Pathways to Peace: How International Support Can Help Prevent Conflict Recurrence
This article provides new evidence on how the international community can effectively foster peace after civil war. It expands the current literature's narrow focus on either peacekeeping or aggregated aid flows, adopting a comprehensive, yet disaggregated, view on international peacebuilding efforts. We distinguish five areas of peacebuilding support (peacekeeping, nonmilitary security support, support for politics and governance, for socioeconomic development, and for societal conflict transformation) and analyze which types or combinations are particularly effective and in which context. Applying configurational analysis (qualitative comparative analysis) to all thirty-six post-civil war peace episodes between 1990 and 2014, we find that (1) peacekeeping is only one important component of effective post-conflict support, (2) the largest share of peaceful cases can be explained by support for politics and governance, (3) only combined international efforts across all types of support can address difficult contexts, and (4) countries neglected by the international community are highly prone to experiencing conflict recurrence. Three case studies shed light on underlying causal mechanisms.
Unpublished MA Dissertation, Bradford: University of …, 2002
This work explores post-war reconstruction and how the international community employs the concept of ‘peacebuilding’ into their strategy and practice. The approach is threefold: First, a theoretical analysis on conflict resolution theory in the post-Cold War phase introduces the changing environment for international engagement into conflict and the war-torn societies thereafter. If sustainable ‘peacebuilding’ is the aim, how is this term defined? Using discourse analysis, thirty documents from the last decade that explicitly deal with ‘peacebuilding’ are analysed to identify a discourse on peacebuilding that shapes the practice on the ground. The evidence suggests that there is no unique theory on peacebuilding, but a discourse on post-war reconstruction that relies on a theory and linguistic practice of a technocratic discourse that is rooted in the ‘economised’ thinking of international development for the last forty years. International Organisations like UN organisations or International Financial Institutions, but also bilateral aid agencies and NGOs have started to employ ‘peacebuilding’ in their cotemporary work. The approaches they use to formulate reconstruction projects are influenced by the abovementioned discourse and especially the World Bank plays an important part in shaping reconstruction efforts. The almost hegemonic status of the World Bank and its’ powerful view on conflict and reconstruction has a questionable influence on sustainable peacebuilding. Country examples from Mozambique, El Salvador, Guatemala, East Timor and Afghanistan highlight unique discursive developments for each country and analyse recent and current nation-building efforts in the light of ‘peacebuilding’. Keywords: peacebuilding, reconstruction, post-conflict, discourse, World Bank, Mozambique, Guatemala, El Salvador, East Timor, Afghanistan
Supporting peace after civil war: what kind of international engagement can make a difference?
2018
peacekeeping can be an effective instrument in maintaining peace, but little systematic knowledge exists on the roles that other types of peace support can play. International peacebuilding encompasses a broad range of activities beyond peacekeeping. It includes non-military support to increase security through disarmament, demobilisation, the reintegration (DDR) of former combatants, as well as security sector reform (SSR) and demining; support for governance to strengthen political institutions and state capacity; support for socioeconomic development to create a peace dividend through reconstruction, basic services, jobs and macroeconomic stability; and support for societal conflict transformation, including reconciliation, dialogue and transitional justice programmes.<br>This briefing paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of disaggregated external support in post-conflict situations, undertaken recently within the DIE research project "Supporting Sust...