Peace Efforts Research Articles

India's role in Afghanistan

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used his recent visit to Kabul to send the message that, unlike the West, New Delhi has no ‘exit strategy’ from Afghanistan. India and Pakistan have long competed for influence over their regional neighbour, and Singh's first trip to the country in six years came at a crucial time – with the US preparing for a troop drawdown and US–Pakistan relations strained by the discovery and killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. By supporting Afghan President Hamid Karzai's peace efforts with Taliban insurgents, committing an extra $500 million in aid and announcing a ‘strategic partnership’, Singh was making clear India's long-term interest in Afghanistan.

The multifarious interlinked causes of conflict in Somalia and the way forward

This article has identified the factors influencing achievement of sustainable peace in former Italian Somaliland (currently known as Somalia) since 1960. The study was conducted with the objective of establishing the internal and external factors influencing sustainable peace in Somalia. The factors studied are clanism, religion, politics, economy, piracy, and peace agreements, United Nations, United States, Italy, African Union, Al-Qaeda and the Arab League. It also explored possible solutions that could be implemented to achieve sustainable peace in Somalia. The study found that the internal factors of clanism and religion can be positively influenced to bring back peace in Somalia while piracy, politics and the economy were seen to be hindering efforts for sustainable peace. On the external factors the study confirmed that the United Nations has not given enough assistance to Somalis to enable them end the continuous conflict and bring sustainable peace. The study also explored solutions that could lead to sustainable peace; some of the suggested solutions include disarming the outlawed groups and the civilians, unified international support on peace initiatives and strengthening local institutions that could be used as vehicles to peace. In the efforts to achieve sustainable peace the report of this study has recommended that Somalia army should be strengthened to be able to protect its people instead of having foreign armies such as Ethiopian troops and AMISOM. The locals should own the peace processes and the agreements should be made in Somalia instead of holding them in other countries. Key words: Somalia, Conflict, causes, politics, peace.

Proliferation Implications of Civil Nuclear Cooperation: Theory and a Case Study of Tito's Yugoslavia

Programs of international civil nuclear cooperation—of “Atoms for Peace”—have come under growing criticism for unintentionally fostering nuclear weapons proliferation in developing countries. However, drawing on the literature on international technology transfer and on Albert Hirschman's theory of exit, voice, and loyalty, this article argues that Atoms for Peace efforts may often seriously hamper developing countries’ nuclear weapons ambitions by empowering their scientific workers and by facilitating the brain drain to the developed world. The article then presents a case study of the historical nuclear program of Yugoslavia, which received very generous help from the Atoms for Peace programs of the United States, Soviet Union, and European states at a time when nonproliferation controls were minimal. The international ties of the Yugoslav nuclear program made its scientific workers much less likely to choose simple loyalty to the Tito regime, and much more likely to choose voice or exit, accelerating the program's ultimate collapse.

The Future of the Two Koreas: How to Build Peace on the Korean Peninsula

IntroductionThe future of the two Koreas has great influence on the security landscape of the Northeast Asian region. It is clear that the two Korean regimes are facing both internal and external challenges and opportunities. Moreover, regional powers, such as the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, are concerned with changing inter- Korean relations especially with regard to the prospect for future security concerns of Northeast Asia in general, and the Korean Peninsula in particular. To explore the future of the Korean Peninsula, it is important to explore and understand the domestic political factors that could shape future policy direction within each Korean government.1This article argues that internal conditions in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are the most important factor in determining future outcomes on the Korean Peninsula. More specifically, it suggests that the North's nuclear weapons program, its ongoing political transition process, and the policies of regional powers such as the U.S. are critical uncertainties that would have great impact on the changing dynamics in the security environment of the Korean Peninsula. Based on thorough exploration of these critical uncertainties, it concludes that the policy-makers of the South Korean government and the regional powers should take the possible collapse of North Korea scenario seriously, while making every effort to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula by creating stable North Korea.Two Scenarios: Divorce Plus Reconciliation and the End of Absolute TyrannyRegarding the future of the two Koreas, there is one pessimistic view that only the collapse of the Kim family could lead to denuclearization and subsequent peace-building on the Korean Peninsula.2 From this perspective, without the demise of the Kim regime, any efforts for peace and reconciliation in the security environment of the Korean Peninsula would be fruitless. On the other hand, scholars such as David Kang argue that economic cooperation between the North and the South plus the U.S. engagement policy toward the North could lead to political reconciliation and national reunification.3 Specifically, proponents of this view tend to think of the prospect for the North's economic reform and denuclearization as promising, based on their belief in the power of capitalist ideas flowing into North Korean society.It should be noted that the two scenarios-Divorce Plus Reconciliation and End of Absolute Tyranny4-are based on distinct perspectives: The former is based on an optimistic liberal view, while the latter is dependent upon pessimistic realist view.Divorce Plus Reconciliation and Liberal OptimismSupported by an optimistic liberal prospect for the future of the two Korean states, Divorce Plus Reconciliation tries to provide clear solution for the Korean question-one that involves multilateralism, economic cooperation, and political reconciliation. First, the Divorce Plus Reconciliation scenario is closely related to the discussion of a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. A peace treaty between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the U.S. would be pre - condition for the establishment of peace on the Korean Peninsula. The discourse of peace on the peninsula could be associated with the necessity of multilateral institutional framework in the Northeast Asian region, and multi - lateral peace and security mechanism can be based on the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis.5More importantly, to build peace on the Korean Peninsula, the true intentions of both Koreas are crucial, because, historically speaking, these two regimes on the peninsula have tended to use the discourse of peace or national unification to back their own interests.6 In word, without genuine efforts by the two Koreas, such as denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the discussion of any peace framework remains an empty promise. …

Caught in the Muddle: America's Pakistan Strategy

President Obama has placed Pakistan at the center of his administration's foreign policy agenda. Islamabad is a pivotal player in Afghanistan and its decisions will have much to do with whether and...

Hungry for Peace: Jane Addams and the Hull‐House Museum’s Contemporary Struggle for Food Justice

Looking at the literal and metaphorical ways that bread manifests itself in different aspects of Jane Addams’s life and work, this essay maps out a new way of thinking about Addams’s unapologetic humanist project and efforts for peace that crossed boundaries of state and nation, gender, race, and class. The research for this work was inspired by a vibrant public program at the Jane Addams Hull‐House Museum called Re‐Thinking Soup, which is a modern day soup kitchen, democratic forum, laboratory space, and museum exhibit that is held weekly in the Residents’ Dining Hall, one of the original buildings of the Hull‐House Settlement. The essay explores the ways that Addams’s legacy and the work at Hull‐House around food can inform, educate, and expand the horizon of our imaginations on critical contemporary issues of social justice.

Japan's Police and Its International Peace Efforts: Seven Policy Recommendations

Japan's Police and Its International Peace Efforts: Seven Policy Recommendations

“Stranger in a Strange Land”: The Non-address of the 40th President (or Is it the First?) of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

“Stranger in a Strange Land”: The Non-address of the 40th President (or Is it the First?) of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

Challenging the international peacebuilding evaluation discourse with qualitative methodologies

Monitoring and evaluating international peacebuilding efforts have become more sophisticated over the past years, but still relies on managerial approaches that often do not capture the complexity of war, peace and the grey areas in between. The article argues that organizations should embrace qualitative approaches more widely and introduces ethnographic vignettes as one example to explain the complexity of post-conflict situations. By understanding the personal dimension, the life- and work-styles of international peacebuilders, the current evaluation discourse can become more meaningful-both for organizational learning and sustainable peace efforts on the ground. The article ends by highlighting some approaches that deserve more attention and that promise to help to critically enhance current and future debates about the evaluation of peacebuilding.

Delusion or Reality? Secret Hungarian Diplomacy during the Vietnam War

This article builds on work published in the Journal of Cold War Studies in 2003 by James G. Hershberg, who presented newly released archival evidence from Budapest and Warsaw concerning the role that Hungary and Poland played as intermediaries between Washington and Hanoi during the 37-day pause in the U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam in December 1965 and January 1966. The evidence presented here, drawing on unpublished Hungarian (and partly unpublished U.S.) archival sources, refines some of Hershberg's conclusions and sheds new light on Budapest's mediatory attempt as well as Hungary's role in the Vietnam conflict. The article provides the first critical appraisal of Delusion and Reality, the 1978 book by János Radványi, Hungary's former chargé d'affaires in Washington. For 25 years, Radványi's book constituted the only available Soviet-bloc account of the secret Communist peace efforts during the Vietnam War.

The Japanese Government's Peace Efforts in the Vietnam War and U. S. -Japan Relations, 1965-68

The Japanese Government's Peace Efforts in the Vietnam War and U. S. -Japan Relations, 1965-68

Bringing peace education to youth via independent radio in Nigeria

IntroductionRadio, the major source of news and information in Nigeria, is largely controlled by the state. Broadcasting objective content, and supporting independent radio stations, is warranted. Medical student members of...

Japanese Peace Efforts Toward China: 1942-45

Japanese Peace Efforts Toward China: 1942-45

American foreign policy and peace in the Middle East

The purpose of this study is to answer the following question: ‘Does US foreign policy undermine peace efforts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories?’ Careful observations of US foreign policy during the Oslo Process reveal that the United States has indeed undermined peace efforts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The American position substantially departed from United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338, which the Palestinians were promised would serve as the basis for negotiations. Although the American–Israeli alliance underwent periodic adjustments, American foreign policy has, over the last decade, helped to create a framework in the Middle East wherein only Israeli needs have legitimacy. During the Oslo Process, the United States and Israel have tried to impose Israel's plans on the Palestinians, ignoring United Nations resolutions and the international community. The evidence reveals that US foreign policy was based on double standards and unfair terms. Further, the seeming link between the aid provided by the United States to Israel and the latter's aggressive policies toward the Palestinians makes it appear as though Washington is ‘rewarding’ such policies, that is, as if Washington is enabling Israel to deny Palestinians’ legitimate rights, violate United Nations resolutions and principles of international law, keep its military occupation forces, and expand Jewish settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Coordinating International Support for African Peace and Security Efforts: From the G8 to the EU

The many regional and intrastate wars and conflicts have contributed significantly to Africa's overall economic, political and strategic marginalisation in world affairs. The AU's new African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) is designed to provide conflict prevention, peace-keeping and peace-building on the continent, but lacks autonomy. The UN, EU, G8 countries, China and, to some extent, NATO and India are active players on the African peace and security scene and are engaged in assisting APSA's operationalisation. But the multiplicity of actors, the magnitude of resources involved and the enormity of the challenges point to the need to enhance coordination by setting up a single entry point for channeling international assistance. Having provided the most funding to date, and with its strong strategic ties with Africa and its extensive participation in other regional and global fora, the EU is best equipped to coordinate support to minimise wasteful duplication, ensure synergy in developing the APSA and implementing its mandate.

Paz en el territorio: dinámica de expansión geográfica del accionar colectivo por la paz en colombia 1978-2003

This article is an attempt to make an introduction, both empirical grounded and descriptive, of the dynamic that the collective action for peace shows in the Colombian society, with special emphasis in the geographical dimension. The article is developed in two main parts: firstly, the key characteristics of such social mobilization for peace are presented (an important and massive mobilization, which displays a varied repertoire of action forms and reaches a countrywide scale). Secondly, using the data of the Cinep’s collective action for peace database (Datapaz), the process of geographical expansion of those actions are showed. Tour periods of time are considered: the antecedents of the peace mobilization (1978-1985),the activation of the peace mobilization (1986-1992), the blossoming of the peace organizations and massive demonstrations (1993-1999), and, finally, the crisis of the massive demonstrations but a great dynamism at the local level (2000-2003). Summarizing, the article starts to elaborate which can be called a geography of peace; that is to say, it is an analysis that shows the geographical dynamic of the collective efforts for peace in the Colombian society. It aims to demonstrate that the Colombian reality is not only armed conflict, but also a growing confluence of initiatives and efforts towards finding alternatives to violence.

Mayhem in Darfur: The Accountability, Peace and Immunity Debate

No one quite tells in precise terms what ‘justice’ is all about, that is why it is so useful a term. Today, the word is almost constantly on everyone’s tongue and might signify almost anything. It is used by all, ranging from the most repressive and atrocious regimes responsible for heinous international crimes, to victims of such egregious human rights abuses. It is a term with a ‘penumbra of uncertainties.’ Borrowing the words of Plato and other philosophers, Kirk tells us the classical definition of justice captured in one phrase, suum cuique, which means to each his own. Despite the recurring controversy over the meaning and normative content of the notion of justice, modern human rights enterprise posits the idea as articulating at least four obligations in the context of atrocity crimes, i.e., the duty to prosecute, disclosure of the truth, the right of victims to reparation and guarantees of non-repetition. The article examines the utility of prosecutorial justice as a comprehensive tool for combating gross violations of human rights and serious breaches of humanitarian law without ignoring other interrelated imperatives of justice. It seeks to posit the debate between peace and justice and tries to make a critical analysis of whether the concern for justice truly jeopardizes the effort for peace in the particular context of Darfur. It professes to look into the prospect of prosecution of those accused of perpetrating the most serious crimes of concern and examines the significance of ICC prosecution to the people of Darfur. By analyzing relevant international precedents and new developments in international criminal law, this article examines the state of the law relating to a sitting head of state immunity. It assesses whether the ICC indictment of President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir is politically motivated or a legally justified action against impunity.

Trip Notes on a Return to Israel and The West Bank: Reflections on U.S. Peacemaking, the Security Mission, and What Should be Done

The following document, previously unpublished, was written in March 2010 by a recently retired ( June 2009) U.S. Army colonel with thirty years experience in the Middle East, including tours of duty and advisory roles (in both military/security and civilian domains) from North Africa to the Persian Gulf. The subject of the informal report is the author's first two trips as a "civilian" to Israel and the West Bank, where he had served two tours of duty, most recently as U.S. military attachéé in Tel Aviv during Israel's 2005 unilateral disengagement from Gaza and the formation of the U.S. Security Coordinator's (USSC) mission to reform Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces.Written as an internal document for military colleagues and government circles, the report has been circulating widely——as did the author's earlier briefings on travel or missions in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and especially Iraq——among White House senior staff, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command), EUCOM (U.S. European Command), and the USSC team.The document's focus is the state of the "peace process" and the current situation in the West Bank, with particular attention to the PA security forces and the changes on the ground since the author's last tour there ended in mid-2007. But the real interest of the paper lies in the message directed at its intended audience of military and government policy officials——that is, its frank assessment of the deficiencies of the U.S. peace effort and the wider U.S. policy-making system in the Israel-Palestine arena, with particular emphasis on the disconnect between the situation on the ground and the process led by Washington. The critique has special resonance in light of the emerging new thinking in the administration fueled by the military high command's unhappiness (expressed by CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Michael Mullen) with the State Department's handling of Middle East diplomacy, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the grounds that diplomatic failures are having a negative impact on U.S. operations elsewhere in the region.For most JPS readers, the report has additional interest as an insider's view of the U.S. security presence in the Israel-Palestine arena. It also reflects a military approach that is often referenced but largely absent in public discourse and academic writings.The author, in addition to his tours of duty and peacekeeping missions in various Middle Eastern countries, has served as advisor to two U.S. special Middle East envoys, the U.S. negotiating team with Syria, General Petraeus, Lieutenant General Keith Dayton, Vice President Dick Cheney, and, more generally, to CENTCOM, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, among others. In retirement, he has worked with CENTCOM as a key primary subject matter expert in the development of analyses and solutions for its area of responsibility, leads predeployment briefings for army units heading to Iraq, and travels frequently to Iraq and elsewhere in the region as an independent consultant. He is currently in Afghanistan with the CENTCOM commander's Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence.The report, made available to JPS, is being published with the author's permission.

The Security Council on women in war: between peacebuilding and humanitarian protection

AbstractHaving established that massive human rights violations in armed conflict constitute a threat to peace and that women are the most severely affected by the scourge of war, the Security Council has since 1999 adopted a number of resolutions intended specifically for this group. These instruments contribute to the development of humanitarian law applicable to women and acknowledge the value of active participation by women in peace efforts. The following article first analyses the foundations on which the Council has been able to assume responsibility for protecting women in situations of armed conflict, and then considers the actual protection it provides. It concludes that the Council has had varying success in this role, pointing out that the thematic and declaratory resolutions on which it is largely based are not binding and therefore, they are relatively effective only as regards their provisions committing United Nations bodies. The author proposes that the Council's role could be better accomplished through situational resolutions than through resolutions declaratory of international law.

‘Norway is a peace nation’: A discourse analytic reading of the Norwegian peace engagement

Since the early 1990s, Norway has been involved in peace promotion in conflicts all over the world. The article explores how this activist peace promotion came to pass, and how it has become naturalized as an integral part of Norway’s foreign policy. It adopts a discourse analytic approach with the aim of uncovering the structure of meanings and understandings, the resulting realities and their influence on Norwegian policy. The main conclusion is that the discourse emerging in the wake of the Middle East peace process in 1993 has been dominated by one particular representation of the peace engagement. It inscribes Norway with considerable agency and ability to contribute to peace; it constructs the Norwegian approach as unique and efficient; it lays out a combination of self-interest and altruism as motivation; and it links the peace engagement to the very identity of the Norwegian nation. It thus legitimizes, naturalizes and defends the policy. As such, the dominant representation has been an important precondition for peace efforts. However, the analysis also indicates that the start of a denaturalization of the engagement has been witnessed in recent years.