Post-conflict Era Research Articles

An exploration of violence, mental health and substance abuse in post-conflict Guatemala.

Guatemala's 36-year civil war officially ended in December 1996 after some 200,000 deaths and one million refugees. Despite the ceasefire, Guatemala continues to be a violent country with one of the highest homicide rates in the world. We investigated potential associations between violence, mental health, and substance abuse in post-conflict Guatemala using a community-based survey of 86 respondents living in urban and rural Guatemala. Overall, 17.4% of our respondents had at least one, direct violent experience during the civil war. In the post-conflict period, 90.7% of respondents reported being afraid that they might be hurt by violence, 40.7% screened positive for depression, 50.0% screened positive for PTSD, and 23.3% screened positive for alcohol dependence. Potential associations between prior violent experiences during the war and indicators of PTSD and aspects of alcohol dependence were found in regression-adjusted models (p < 0.05). Certain associations between prior civil war experiences, aspects of PTSD and alcohol dependence in this cohort are remarkable, raising concerns for the health and safety of the largely indigenous populations we studied. Higher than expected rates of depression, PTSD, and substance abuse in our cohort may be related to the ongoing violence, injury and fear that have persisted since the end of the civil war. These, in turn, have implications for the growing medical and surgical resources needed to address the continuing traumatic and post-traumatic complications in the post-conflict era. Limitations of the current study are discussed. These findings are useful in beginning to understand the downstream effects of the Guatemalan civil war, although a much larger, randomly sampled survey is now needed.

Cohesion, sharing and integration? Migrant languages and cultural spaces in Northern Ireland's urban environment

This article investigates the position of migrant languages in Northern Ireland's two largest cities, Belfast and Derry/Londonderry. The paper comments on how deliberations around public policy objectives in a post-conflict era have led to a broader understanding of cultural identity and consequently to an ‘opening-up’ of urban spaces for speakers of migrant community languages. For such linguistic minorities, museums, libraries, community festivals, arts projects and grass roots community initiatives can be noted as especially important in contributing to higher levels of inclusion and accessibility to urban spaces. Nonetheless, while the debates on such ‘peace-oriented’ policy frameworks have certainly accommodated the wider visibility and use of migrant languages in city spaces, there is more that can be done by planners in these sectors to further enhance opportunities for social cohesion.

Meeting the urban challenge? Urban agriculture and food security in post-conflict Freetown, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. During the decade-long civil war of the 1990s, widespread forced out-migration left much of the countryside abandoned, as rural residents fled to the safety of the capital city, Freetown. Consequently, food production became severely dislocated and, in the post-conflict era, the state of the agricultural sector has become a major concern to governmental and non-governmental development agencies. Focussing on the question of urban food security in Freetown, this paper examines the incidence, dynamics and significance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) among households, at a crucial point in Sierra Leone's post-conflict reconstruction phase. Drawing on recent field-based data, the paper contributes to the growing debate concerning how urban planning and development might be reconciled with the promotion of an ‘enabling environment’ in which UPA is encouraged and supported. It is argued that in the case of Freetown, a detailed evaluation of UPA is urgently needed to determine how agricultural activities can fit in with urban structure, urban problems and the livelihoods of a wide range of actors in and around the city. The paper concludes that not only is UPA a vital element in ensuring household food security, but it could potentially play a fundamental role in safeguarding the urban food continuum and promoting sustainable urbanization in the post-conflict period and beyond.

From Spirit Forest to Rubber Plantation: The Accelerating Disaster of "Development" in Cambodia

Despite the rise of Cambodia’s GDP and other development indicators, continuing extreme poverty combined with very rapid conversion of traditional subsistence lands, forests, and waters into economic land concessions (ELCs) to national and transnational companies is leading to intensified land insecurity issues and other human rights problems that may destabilize the country. An elite sector of Cambodian society comprised of the heads of state, business, and the military is implicated as the central cause of ongoing poverty and land loss. This paper outlines the problematic nature of the ELC processes that began in the post-conflict era and continue today, and adapts Roy Rappaport’s concepts of cognized/operational environments within a political and historical framework for analyzing the strategies of these elites, and compares their cognized environments with those of indigenous Kuoy peoples who are among those whose lands are threatened by ELCs, and suggests that the high-modern discourses of development adhered to by the elites is based on ultimate sacred postulates just as much as are the explicitly religious discourses of traditional Kuoy peoples.

The Influence of the Tharuhat Autonomous State Council (Tasc) In Kailali District in The Far-Western Tarai

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2006 and Nepal entering a post-conflict era have been associated with the emergence of various organisations and movements often formed along ethnic lines. The Tharuhat Autonomous State Council (TASC) is one such movement that is the focus of this paper but more generally has received relatively limited focus within academia. Within the context of Kailali district in far-west Nepal, this paper explores various characteristics and policies of the wider Tharuhat movement focusing on the vision for an autonomous Tharu state. It will highlight some of the successes and problems that the movement faces. Furthermore, this paper will explore a number of tensions between the national Tharuhat discourse and how this finds meaning and resonance at the local level where activists are attempting to engage with the Tharu community. Ultimately this paper examines the extent to which the Tharuhat movement represents a new more political stage in the wider Tharu ethnic movement.

The Knowledge-Centred Approach to the Somali Cultural Emergency and Heritage Development Assistance in Somaliland

Somalia has suffered a civil war since early 1991. Systematic looting, destruction and illicit excavation of sites continue without the international community (including academics, government organisations, heritage workers and humanitarian aid organisations) acknowledging this problem, let alone addressing it. The pre-war approaches to Somali cultural heritage lacked awareness-raising initiatives and basic dialogue with local communities, and hence remained uninformed about local views and methodologies regarding heritage. This has resulted in a lack of interest in building a local foundation and infrastructure for heritage management and archaeological research in the country. Today, it is clear that no measures were taken to protect cultural heritage during two decades of armed conflict in Somalia. Recently, archaeological material has become the target of ideologically motivated destruction. However, in post-conflict Somaliland, a self-declared, de facto country where there is peace and stability, possibilities for protection and management of cultural heritage exist. In order to carry out such work, an understanding of local practices is necessary. Hence, this paper presents unique research into local heritage management strategies and unveils indigenous heritage management methods, which the author refers to as the knowledge-centred approach. This approach emphasises knowledge and skill rather than objects, helping cultures such as the Somali, with strong oral transmission of knowledge, preserve their cultural heritage even in times of armed conflict. Also, this paper presents a critical assessment of the Somali cultural emergency as a whole and suggests ways of assisting different stakeholders in the protection of Somali heritage in the conflict and post-conflict eras.

Water: triggering cooperation between former enemies

This paper reveals the role of the good offices of the United States to facilitate understanding between two enemies, Jordan and Israel, prior to the conclusion of a peace treaty between them in October 1994. It further addresses the basis of agreement on water-related matters between the two states, and the role water has played in triggering cooperation between these two former enemies. Lessons learned, from a Jordanian perspective, during the conflict, negotiations and post-conflict eras that lasted for decades are discussed, and a brief outlook to the future is presented.

External Debts, Growth and Peace in the Sudan: Some Serious Challenges Facing the Country in the Post-Conflict Era

This paper attempts to examine the impacts of the extent of the external debt problem and its sustainability on the government’s efforts to reduce poverty and sustain growth and peace in the Sudan. It starts with defining the concepts of external debt and types of loans and then examines the details of the external debt profile, magnitude, composition and sources by creditors. It also lists the causes (both external and internal) of the debt problem in the Sudan. A major section of this paper is devoted to investigate the relationship between growth, debt and peace in the Sudan in order to generate some policy based recommendations to deal with the issues of poverty and growth in the country. The remaining sections discuss various issues pertaining to debt burden indicators, debt sustainability, the Sudan debt relief strategy for solving the problem of external debt in the 1980s, and the new borrowing and investment policies. The final section gives some conclusions and policy recommendations.

Review: Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution edited by Saleem H. Ali

Review: Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution Saleem H. Ali (Ed.) Reviewed by Yves Laberge Universite Laval, Canada Ali, Saleem H. (Ed.). Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2007. 406pp. ISBN 978-0-262-51198-8. US$29.00, paper. Recycled, acid-free paper. Peace Parks can be understood as international zones commonly managed by two or more neighboring countries in a transboundary region (the concept is uncredited, but closely parallels ideas from Pierre Nora’s classic text Realms of Memory). Although not a peace park as such, the case of Antarctica (studied in chapter 9), which belongs to no one and everyone, is a clear example of the challenges of many nations which must work together for the aims of science and environmental protection, without any kind of conflict. However, as Michele Zebich-Knos indicates when referring to the Antarctic paradigm, conservation management implies some specific issues in new domains: there are up to 4000 scientists living in Antarctica, plus many tourists who visited that region (p. 164). This 18-chapter book is timely: in her short foreword, the rector of the United Nations' University for Peace, Julia Marton-LeFevre, notes that so far, there has been limited systematic analysis of the role peace parks can play in the peaceful resolution of conflict (p. xiv). In their opening chapter on Measuring Peace Parks Performance , Anne Hammill and Charles Besancon provide a clear definition of peace parks: Parks for peace are transboundary protected areas that are formally dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and to the promotion of peace and cooperation (p. 24). The most frequent example of success is the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, located between the Canadian province of Alberta and the U.S. state of Montana. It was established in 1932 and it is known as the world's first peace park (p. 197). Chapter 10 gives an accurate account of its history and some current issues in terms of border security (p. 192). The first chapters (1-5) are more theoretical with core concepts and issues introduced in terms of political ecology, governance and globalization; in the following sections, authors from various disciplinary domains present a dozen of case studies. Among those examples, we find a practical presentation of the peace parks projects along the border between the United States and Mexico (chapter 11), in Africa (chapter 12), and in Korea's demilitarized corridor for conservation, seen here as a green approach to conflict resolution (chapter 13). Among other case studies are the peace parks in Afghanistan (chapter 16), plus the Mesopotamian Marshes and the Hawizeh-Azim Peace Park in Iraq and Iran (chapter 17). Each chapter presents the historical context that led to the creation of peace parks in a given region, the elements that make it unique, the sources of funding, possible hazards, and in a few cases the role of NGOs and the United Nations for promoting the idea of peace parks in Third World countries. Among many other qualities, I appreciated the editor’s accurate remarks in his rich conclusion, like his practical suggestions regarding the involvement of NGOs and the usefulness of sharing the positive experiences previously made in other national contexts: NGOs should play an epistemic role — exchanging knowledge between parties and mediating for community members on all sides (p. 340). Elsewhere, when asking what to do after some long conflicts, Saleem Ali (from the University of Vermont) advocates in just a few short formulas what seems to be the only solution that can work in postconflict eras: resolve conflicts beforehand, acknowledge past grievances and make process transparent to local residents (p. 340). The interdisciplinary book Peace Parks: Conservation and Conflict Resolution will be instructive for professionals and students in environmental studies, political geography, peace studies and diplomacy, tourism and heritage studies, but also in sociology of the environment, citizenship education, political science and international relations.

Self-Interest and Cooperation: The Emergence of Multilateral Interdependence in Post-Conflict Eras

This paper covers theories of international cooperation and the treatment they have received from certain commentators and advocates. The first thing that one notices in such an effort however, is the lack of definitional and elementary structure in the field, particularly in James Dougherty and Robert Pfaltzgraff’s Contending Theories of International Relations. We see that concepts such as cooperation, integration, communication, and functionalism, to name a few, become stuffed together in a hodgepodge of proto-theories that at best have the distinction of not being realist. One of the aims of this paper is to stress under what conditions international cooperation and interdependence can emerge. The relevance of the argument owes to the fact that today’s international relations are becoming more aggressive and authoritarian, due to the increased autonomy sought by states (notably in the competitive pursuit of energy resources). Therefore, the need to rekindle the spirit of cooperation that the world witnessed upon the end of the Cold War (which spawned the Partnership for Peace, in particular) is urgent. Interdependence is a complex system of relations that has the merit of being observable in everyday international life. However, theoretical work seems limited to the descriptive and structural/systemic levels. The apparent complexity of the system stems in part from incomprehension concerning causality and consequence. In other words, we find ourselves faced with a chicken-and-egg dilemma about what actually produces interdependence. The inability to test and predict a theory means that it makes for a poor theory. Yet we cannot dispute the prima facie evidence of modern international relations; interdependence, like cooperation, is a fact, even if these principles have been under attack in the era since 11 September 2001. The various attempts at developing a theory of interdependence have on the one hand obscured several similarities and commonalities between theoretical variants (say, between regime theory and neofunctionalism), and on the other hand

La desigualdad en el reparto de la tierra en Colombia: Obstáculo principal para una paz duradera y democrática

La desigualdad en el reparto de la tierra en Colombia y la consiguiente pobreza rural es la causa principal del conflicto armado que ha vivido el país durante más de cincuenta años. La concentración de la tierra en pocas manos, el poder de la agroindustria y los ganaderos, así como la preeminencia de una agricultura orientada más a la exportación que al consumo interno, hacen necesaria una reforma agraria que vaya más allá de la mera redistribución de tierras, pues el campesinado necesita una democratización del campo mediante el acceso a los insumos, al crédito y a la asistencia técnica, además de infraestructuras, educación, vivienda y sanidad. Las nuevas legislaciones agropecuarias y rurales, nacidas en el seno del proceso de paz y con el fin de gestionar la etapa posterior al conflicto armado, son incompletas, tienen muchas limitaciones y no modifican sustancialmente el origen de todos los problemas: la estructura de la propiedad de la tierra.