Peace Building

Peace Building is a central component to not only to the issue of human rights, international human rights law, but also within the broader field of international relations. In this article, we will discuss the definition of peace building in the academic and policy fields of peace and conflict studies. We will also address a number of topics related to peace building. We will examine themes within peace building that include: peace building education, religion and peace building, issues of gender and peace building, peace building activities, media and peace building activities, as well as other topics such as the role of the United Nations and peace building. In this discussion, we will analyze the importance of establishing peace prior to conflict, during conflict, and if peace could not be built at these times, effective ways to establish post-conflict peace building and reconstruction.

It is clear that there are many events and conflicts in the world where peace is not currently in place. However, even in the most intense military conflicts, one must continue to think about peace initiatives, preparing for ways to introduce peace building mechanisms into the condition of that said situation. Plus, even if peace cannot be established immediately, the goal is for the conflicts in the world to end, in which peace building activities will become central to the post-conflict reconstruction of that society.

What is Peace building?

One of the most asked questions about peace building relates to the definition of the term: What is peace building? There is no clear cut and commonly agreed answer to this question, given the different ways to interpret and define peace building.

Peace building itself is comprised of a number of activities; “Peacebuilding involves a full range of approaches, processes, and stages needed for transformation toward more sustainable, peaceful relationships and governance modes and structures. Peacebuilding includes building legal and human rights institutions as well as fair and effective governance and dispute resolution processes and systems” (Morris, 2013).

The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame says that “Peacebuilding is the development of constructive personal, group, and political relationships across ethnic, religious, class, national, and racial boundaries. It aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the structural conditions that generate deadly conflict. Peacebuilding can include conflict prevention; conflict management; conflict resolution and transformation, and post-conflict reconciliation.”

History of Peace Building

The ideas of peace building, at their core, have been in existence for centuries, arguably as early back as the first periods of recorded history. However, the more direct interaction with peace building is more of a recent phenomena. It is said that the term peace building was created by Johan Galtung, who was looking for ways to understand the causes of conflict in societies. Galtung was not only focused on conflict, but also on ways to advocate for long term peace outcomes in these conflict societies (Cheng-Hopkins, 2010).

Then, the term picked up popularity in the field of international relations in the early 1990s, when, Boutros Boutros-Gali, who was then the Secretary General of the United Nations, directly engaged with the term peace building, calling it “action to solidify peace and avoid relapse into conflict” (Cheng-Hopkins, 2010: 5).

Other definitions of peace building are as follows: For example, “The Secretary-General’s Policy Committee [of the United Nations] has described peacebuilding thus: “Peacebuilding involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development” (Cheng-Hopkins, 2010: 5).

In fact, the recent decades have arguably ushered in a new period as it pertains to not only the specific issues of peace building, but arguably much broader issues that fall under the umbrella of human security. What was historically perceived as concentrations on state power and state sovereignty, has been challenged by new norms, now concentrating on human rights, along with development issues. As Daniel Philpott (2010) writes: “The most recent generation in global politics might well be called the “age of peacebuilding.” What merits the moniker is an intense, diverse, and global wave of efforts to end the violence and colossal injustices of civil war, genocide, dictatorship, and large-scale poverty and to foster justice and prosperity in their stead. Since 1988, the United Nations (UN) has undertaken peacebuilding operations in revolutionary number and frequency. Since the end of the Cold War, an unprecedented number of civil wars have ended through negotiated settlements.” He also points to the establishment of international courts such as the International Criminal Court, along with dozens of various tribunals and/or truth commissions, as evidence that the international community is attempting to deal with matters not only of peace and peace building.

In fact, it is evident to see that there has indeed been a central emphasis on peace building following the Cold War. For example, Robert Paris, writing in 1997, pointed out then that there were eight peace building operations from the Cold War ending until 1997: Peace builders were involved in “Namibia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mozambique, Angola, Rwanda, and Bosnia” (54-55).

Peace and Conflict

In order to understand peace, one must first understand the factors that lead to conflict. This is evident when you think about the comparison of concepts. Where peace is the presence of rights and the rule of law, “Conflict reflects a complete breakdown of the rule of law” (United Nations Rule of Law, nd). As Barash explains, “It may seem perverse to being our survey of “approaches to peace” by looking at the causes of war. But it can’t be helped. War is humanity’s most inhumane and destructive endeavor. Destroying not only lives, property, the environment, hopes, and dreams, it also wreaks havoc with any prospects for “positive peace,” the goal for which most workers in peace studies strive” (5).

One has to remember that one of the greatest challenges to peace building is the that fact the often, the conflict that just ended destroyed many aspects of not only the state institutions, but also often the security and trust of civil society. That is one a peace builder must proceed with care.

There have even been efforts to re-evaluate the way the United Nations not only frames issues of peace (for example, as the video below points out, to look of it not as post-conflice peace building, but rather “sustainable peace,” but there is also calls for the United Nations to be more active much earlier in situations, thus working to stop conflicts from arising, or ending them much earlier, which would have more positive effects on conditions of peace.

Theories of Peace Building

Whether one is either organizing a peace building mission, or if a person is studying peace building, it is imperative to reflect upon peace building theories as a foundation for implementing peace building activities for a country. With regards to peace building theory, much of the work has traditionally centered on what has been understood as “liberal internationalism, ” of which “The central tenet of this paradigm is the assumption that the surest foundation for peace, both within and between states, is market democracy, that is, a liberal democratic polity and a market-oriented economy. Peace building is in effect an enormous experiment in social engineering-an experiment that involves transplanting Western models of social, political, and economic organization into war-shattered states in order to control civil conflict: in other words, pacification through political and economic liberalization” (56).

However, there have been some problems with this approach, particularly as it pertains to peace building success rates. An emphasis on economic liberalization as it pertains to peace building may have made matters worse in countries like Rwanda and Bosnia. The concern by scholars is that market democracy is not a solution without problems, many of which come up after this policy is implemented. And because of this, instead of beginning peace building operations with attention towards this liberal economic model, Paris (1997) argues that

A more realistic approach to peacebuilding would start from the opposite assumption: that creating a stable market democracy is a tumultuous, conflict-ridden, and lengthy process, particularly in the fragile political environment of a war-shattered state. Peacebuilding ex- poses the inherently conflictual character of democracy and capitalism, both of which paradoxically encourage societal competition as a means of achieving political stability and economic prosperity. War-shattered states are typically ill equipped to manage societal competition induced by political and economic liberalization, not only because these states have a recent history of violence, but because they typically lack the institutional structures capable of peacefully resolving internal disputes. In these circumstances, efforts to transform war- shattered states into market democracies can serve to exacerbate rather than moderate societal conflicts (57).

Successful Peace Building Activities

Even before a peace building operation begins, it is important to know that these peace building missions vary greatly from one post-conflict society to another. Thus, we believe that is must be recognized that peace building activities will also depend on the specific post-conflict situation. For example, while some of the same sorts of peace building may be common in most societies (rule of law, security, etc…), “Some countries may need peacebuilding initiatives aimed at their particular conflict drivers, such as drugs and crime, illegal exploitation of natural resources, or land reform. Conflict drivers can also include cross-cutting issues such as lack of respect for human rights, bad governance, lack of social integration and cohesion, lack of gender equality, and HIV/AIDS” (UN, 2010). There may also be an importance to focus on economic development related factors in society.

Having said that, a number of policy actions must be very carefully thought out and crafted in order for peace building activities to be successful (Morris, 2013). It is imperative that for those individuals who are in charge of peace building activities, that they are careful to understand the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the society in which they are working to establish peace.

The United Nations Rule of Law says that “Peacebuilding involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict management, and laying the foundations for sustainable peace and development. Peacebuilding strategies must be coherent and tailored to the specific needs of the country concerned, based on national ownership, and should comprise a carefully prioritized, sequenced, and therefore relatively narrow set of activities aimed at achieving the above objectives. The critical importance of strengthening the rule of law to peacebuilding, and to avoiding relapse into conflict, has long been recognized by the United Nations.”

Making this mistake can have long-term consequences on issues of trust, and a willingness to buy into the vision of what the post-conflict society should look like. Furthermore, not understanding the particular case can ultimately lead to ineffective peace building, which in turn might then lead to the prevalence of conditions that in turn might allow some actors to potentially move a country back to conflict. 

Thus, what is done must be with care, the proper attention, and significant preparation and research.

The United Nations argues that while there are many facets of peace building operations, the beginning of the peace building activities, and more specifically that first two year period, the peace builder network should concentrate on ensuring safety and security, working towards civil society supporting the political process, and establishing and increasing state effectiveness. The United Nations (2010), in their writings and orientation booklet on peace building, explain that in those first months and years, 

As mentioned above, one of the important aspects to successful peace building is the investment into ensuring the rule of law is present in the society. This rule of law is often lost during conflict, often having been violated by various entities (which can include–but is not limited to the government). Thus, because of this gap in an effective legal system, ensuring that rule of law has taken hold is difficult. There are many reasons why, in peace building and post-conflict reconstruction, it can be a challenge to establish the rule of law. Some problems are: “a lack of material, institutional and human capacity, and distrust of existing institutions responsible for upholding the rule of law. Weaknesses in these institutions and laws are often root causes of the conflict, and threats to the independence, impartiality and effectiveness of these institutions usually continue post-conflict. Continued insecurity, and a culture of impunity for past and continuing serious crimes and violations of human rights law, directly threaten the reestablishment of security and the pursuit of justice and reconciliation” (United Nations Rule of Law).

Peace building and the Rule of Law

And because of this, it is essential that actors work on a number of fronts as it relates to the rule of law. There often needs to be meetings between different civil society actors, where discussions about what they want the society to look like may take place. There also needs to be laws (and effective enforcement mechanisms) to deal with any injustices that may take place, or that may have occurred in the past (here, discussions of truth and reconciliation commissions, or war crimes tribunals (such as the International Criminal Court) be come up). Moreover, there needs to be trust in the government, police, and judicial system. Moreover, effective rule of law will ensure that the rights of all individuals, whether it is refugees, internally displaced persons, children, women, men, religious, ethnic, racial, and sexual orientation minorities in the country are all protected United Nations Rule of Law).

Peace Building and Elections

One related aspect to peace building and the rule of law is often the importance of ensuring that citizen voices are heard. Now, it is critical that their voices are continuously presented and taken seriously throughout the entire post-conflict peace building operation. If it is not, then trust can erode, which is harmful for serious societal reconstruction. However, one particular aspect of peace building that seems to get a great deal of attention very early in the post-conflict reconstruction society is the idea of establishing elections. These elections may be some of the first true democratic elections that the country has seen in years, if ever. Or, if the country came out of a civil war, then political conditions may be quite sensitive. And therefore, peace builders need to act with caution, particularly if they are trying to set up a new government. So, something like the issue of election in peace building, while important, may have to be carefully approached; “while the holding of elections is the most frequent outcome of a peace agreement, and electoral processes can contribute to more legitimate political authority, they may also be a source of tension and renewed conflict if they are rushed, if quality is sacrificed to speed, and if the political environment is not conducive to a credible and accepted result” (United Nations, 2010: 13).

Gender and Peace Building

Other programs for successful peace building must include concentrating on the importance of gender not only in the post-conflict society, but also in countries that are not in conflict. The idea of supporting ideas of gender and peace building,  and specifically women and peace building. International organizations such as the United Nations have attempted to focus on the relationship between gender and peace building. For example, “At the 2005 World Summit, world leaders reaffirmed the important role of women in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding. They called for the full and effective implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women and Peace and Security and, for the first time, accepted the inter-linkages across development, peace and security and human rights” (Klot, 2007: 1). However, the sad reality is that while there are statements and international laws about protecting women and sexual minorities, the situation in conflict societies (and non-conflict societies, for that matter) is often quite different, where “the reality for women in post-conflict situations has grown increasingly brutal as the scourge of HIV/AIDS accumulates and interacts with the effects of poverty, natural disasters and environmental degradation. Today, women in the aftermath of crisis have perilously little protection or access to services, justice, economic security or citizenship. Delivery to meet basic needs and safeguard fundamental rights is unrepentantly lacking”  (Klot, 2007: 1). Often, while issues of providing equal rights for all genders in peace building missions are essential, it is argued that “

But while there are numerous safety concerns facing women and sexual minorities in conflict and post-conflict societies, there has not been a sufficient domestic and international response to these problems. While there is attention to these issues, on many occasions, groups that are working on issues of women and peace building, or gender and peace building don’t receive proper support (Klot, 2007). Women’s voices during peace building must continue to be heard. While there are efforts to remedy this situation to have a space and support for these issues (for example, with international organizations concentrating more on women’s and gender rights), the commitment must be continued and sustained if peace building efforts are going to be successful. One cannot ignore the voices and concerns of one half of a society and expect positive peace building and long term peace to take hold (Below is a video discussing the issue of women and peace building in West Africa).

Youth and Peace Building

There have also been many peace builders that have urgently called for the assurance of peace building programs that concentrate on the youth of that society. These programs are essential if one is hoping that long-term, sustained peace building will be effective. For example, Barbara Piazza Georgi of UNFPA Burundi (UN, 2010) is quoted as saying that ““I would emphasize the need to focus on youth. They represent the biggest danger to peace consolidation, but also the biggest opportunity with their energy, natural optimism and innovative mindset. Public-works programmes employing young people not only help to rebuild local infrastructure, but give young people a stake in their community. They can be combined – as in Burundi – with afternoon training and discussion sessions animated by youth leaders in health and life-skills, gender sensitivity, reconciliation and non-violent communication. we add to this microcredits and advice for youth who want to start up small businesses and an apprenticeship/vocational training scheme, using existing local enterprises. Gender balance is ensured and the discussions are designed to cover women’s rights issues” (13). 

Long Term Peace Building

It is also important to not that all of these sorts of peace building activities take a great deal of time. One cannot expect to successfully transform a post-conflict society based on days, weeks, or months of peace building activities. This is why peace building has to be what is called “strategic” in that “it works over the long run and at all levels of society to establish and sustain relationships among people locally and globally. Strategic peacebuilding connects people and groups “on the ground”(community and religious groups, grassroots organizations, etc.) with policymakers and powerbrokers (governments, the United Nations, corporations, banks, etc.) It aims not only to resolve conflicts, but to build societies, institutions, policies, and relationships that are better able to sustain peace and justice.” Moreover, it covers various issue areas of a society (human rights, development, rule of law, economic well-being, etc…), and also “stretches across generations. While it engages immediate crises, strategic peacebuilding recognizes that peacemaking is a long-term vocation that requires the building of cross-group networks and alliances that will survive intermittent conflicts and create a platform for sustainable human development and security” (Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, 2012). Furthermore, mistakes early might have negatively shape the society, and any chance of long sustainable peace. It is for this reason that “One of the greatest strategic challenges in the early post-conflict phase is to ensure that, whilst moving quickly, decisions taken in the short term do not prejudice medium-and long-term peacebuilding” (UN, 2010: 13-14). 

Boubacar Kane of BINUB was quoted as saying ” “Some activities identified as priorities for development cooperation, or even peacebuilding (e.g. administrative reforms, technical capacity building) may not be achievable in the immediate aftermath of conflict. For example, parliamentary capacity building is a huge challenge, possibly an unrealistic aim, in a context of political mistrust and insufficient legitimacy. At the very least such capacity building would have to be carefully tailored to reflect current circumstances, perhaps even delayed until the political situation is more stable. Otherwise we risk wasting money, achieving technical delivery but without any lasting impact” (UN, 2010: 15).

Lastly, it must be iterated that effective peace building involves a wide range of actors. While much of the attention to peace building is often concentrated on the United Nations or another peace building force (such as the African Union), in reality, international organization peacekeepers are just one small part of an entire network of individuals working to establish peace in a post-conflict society. As Paris (1997) writes: “these operations have involved a wide variety of international actors-including national relief and development agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),international financial institutions, and other regional and international actors-engaged in a broad range of activities, from disarming former belligerents to providing financial and humanitarian assistance, monitoring and conducting elections, repatriating refugees, rebuilding physical infrastructure, advising and training security personnel and judicial officials, and even temporarily taking over the administration of an entire country” (55).

It is also imperative that there a serious and primary role for local actors. If the entire peace building operation is run by international actors, this might cause irreparable harm. Individuals want to have a say in their post-conflict reconstruction. They often know the situation on the ground very well, and thus, to ignore their voices not only loses their trust, but it might also reduce buying into the peace building strategy. Moreover, if local leaders and other civil society members are not trusting of the international community, or if they feel that their voices are not being heard or taken seriously, then there is a potential to lose their participation (and in turn, all of their knowledge), which will put a serious damper on any a stable and sustainable long-term peace building campaign. For example, the United States Institute of Peace, in their 2009 Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction, has made such an argument, saying that “Locally led input on sequencing and timing actions is essential for success. Legitimate national and local representatives of the host nation should participate fully in shaping sequencing and timing of actions. The UN Peace-building Commission and its Peacebuilding Support Office have pioneered this consultative path with groundbreaking work in Burundi and Sierra Leone. Knowing if or when to strengthen substate, suprastate, or nonstate institutions; avoiding an often inappropriate replication of western institutional models; and avoiding recreating institutions that caused conflict in the first place requires local input and deep consultation” (UN, 2010: 15).

 

References

Barash, D. (2010). Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies. Oxford, England. Oxford University Press.

Klot, J.F. (2007). Women and Peace Building.  Independent Expert Paper 1 Commissioned by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and The Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO). Social Science Research Council. Available Online: http://www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/pdf/doc_wgll/wgll_backgroundpaper_29_01_08.pdf

Kroc Institute for International Studies (2012). What is Strategic Peacebuilding? Available Online: http://kroc.nd.edu/about-us/what-peace-studies/what-strategic-peacebuilding

Morris, C. (2013). What is  Peace Building? One Definition. Available Online: http://www.peacemakers.ca/publications/peacebuildingdefinition.html

Philpott, D. (2010). Strategies of Peace. Available Online: Transforming Conflict in a Violent World. Daniel Philpott & Gerard E. Powers, eds. Oxford, England. Oxford University Press. Available Online: http://kroc.nd.edu/sites/default/files/strategies_of_peace_intro.pdf

United Nations Rule of Law (ND). Peacebuilding. Available Online: http://www.unrol.org/article.aspx?article_id=27

United Nations (2010). UN Peacebuilding: An Orientation. Peacebuilding Support Office. Pages 1-51. Available Online: http://www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/pbso/pdf/peacebuilding_orientation.pdf 

United States Institute for Peace (2009). Guiding Principles for Stabilization and Reconstruction. Available Online: http://www.usip.org/publications/guiding-principles-stabilization-and-reconstruction