False Promises False Hopes: Local Perspectives on Liberal Peace Building in North-Western Pakistan

Abstract

The global discourse on ‘winning hearts and minds’, engages the USA, local governments, and international actors in liberal peace building in conflict-affected settings. In north-western Pakistan, the Pakistani government supports this discourse by claiming to pursue a 3-pronged strategy based on dialogue, development, and deterrence. This paper examines how peace-building activities have been practiced in north-western Pakistan in relation to development and humanitarian interventions that support community needs. Field data were gathered in Swat and Peshawar valleys between September 2010 and February 2011, through semi-structured interviews that covered peace-building efforts in the form of local perceptions of development and humanitarian interventions, perspectives on development schemes, aid priorities, and the relationship between aid and security. Furthermore, the paper relies on secondary data sources such as development and humanitarian response plans, research briefs, and news events. The paper closely examines the dynamics of liberal peace building in terms of humanitarian aid operations and development activities in north-western Pakistan. Empirical evidence from the region highlights the conflations in liberal peace concerning the imbalances in policies, plans, and activities in north-western Pakistan. The large disconnect between liberal peace building and effective development policies and practices in north-western Pakistan reflects the diverse interests of different actors, states, development and humanitarian response actors and elites, in problematizing issues. The paper concludes that the liberal peace agenda has contributed to securitization of development assistance in the region, which in turn has significantly limited the impact of development assistance to crisis-affected communities.