Peace‐building: Theoretical and Concrete Perspectives

Abstract

In a world where war is everybody's tragedy and everybody's nightmare, diplomacy is everybody's business. —Lord Strang1 This paper presents a comprehensive review of the conflict resolution and peace‐building literature focused on the issues involved in assessing the impact of peacemaking and peace‐building through people‐to‐people contact. Findings reveal that we are still in the beginning stages of establishing frameworks for the resolution of wars and the building of peace and that there continues to be academic and political contestation over the definition of peace and peace‐building. At the same time, this review identifies significant research progress in creating useful conceptual distinctions among the various modalities for peace, in establishing definitions that are both explanatory and remedial, and in recognizing the need for multi‐faceted approaches to peacemaking and peace‐building. Likewise, the literature indicates a growing understanding of the various forms of people‐to‐people contact, their impact, their possibilities, and their limitations. Attempts are made to reconcile the tensions between structural and social‐psychological approaches, and similarly, the contradictions between conflict resolution and social justice. Finally, directions for future research that address the impact, the effectiveness, and the possibilities for creating an infrastructure for a sustainable just peace.