Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The United States, The West And The Rest Of The World, Johan Galtung

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

The world will never be the same again after the terrible attack on the economic U.S., the military U.S., the foreign policy U.S., and on human beings like all of us. We embrace the victims of the violence, of all violence, in deep grief, and express our hope that perpetrators will be brought to justice. Violence at this level can only be explained by a very high level of dehumanisation of the victims in the minds of the aggressors, often due to a very deep level of unresolved, basic conflict. The word “terrorism” may describe the tactics, but like …

Choices And Prospects, Noam Chomsky

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

In examining the attacks on the U.S. on September 11, we must first identity the perpetrators of the crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden network, a widespread and complex organization, doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not necessarily acting under his control. Let us assume that this is true. A sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden’s views, and the sentiments of the large reservoir of supporters of much of what he says throughout the region. About all …

The Islamic Paradigm Of Nations: Toward A Neo-Classical Approach, Amr G.E. Sabet

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

As late as 1966, Martin Wight could still pose the question: “why is there no international relations theory?” By this he meant the absence of a tradition of speculation about relations between states, family of nations, or the international community, comparable to that of political theory as speculation about the state. To the extent that it did exist, it was marked by “intellectual and moral poverty” caused both by the prejudice imposed by the sovereign state and the belief in progress (Wight 1995: 15-16 &19). Unlike political theory, which has been progressivist in its concern with pursuing interests of …

The Human Approach To World Peace, His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Peace and Conflict Studies

Excerpt

When we rise in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad news: violence, crime, wars and disasters. I cannot recall a single day without a report of something terrible happening somewhere. Even in these modern times it is clear that one’s precious life is not safe. No former generation has had to experience so much bad news as we face today; this constant awareness of fear and tension should make any sensitive and compassionate person question seriously the progress of our modern world.

Killing, Letting Die, And The Alleged Necessity Of Military Intervention, Laurie Calhoun

Peace and Conflict Studies

Recent international developments have introduced the possibility of war waged on behalf of people unable to defend themselves, and when the attacking parties’ interests appear not to be at stake. Are purely military forms of “humanitarian intervention” sometimes morally required? Can such military missions be reconciled with the widely held belief in the moral distinction between killing and letting die? In exploring these questions, the two dominant paradigms in writing about war are considered: just war theory and utilitarianism. The moral centrality of intentions emerges through an explanation of the distinction often made between natural and man-made catastrophe. Ultimately, the …

Volume 8, Number 2 (November 2001), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Action Evaluation In The Theory And Practice Of Conflict Resolution, Marc Howard Ross

Peace and Conflict Studies

Questions of evaluation are important to conveners, participants and funders of conflict resolution initiatives. Yet good evaluation is tied to a number of complicated questions concerning what constitutes success and failure in projects that may be multi-dimensional or only part of an effort to settle a larger conflict. Rothman has offered Action Evaluation as a methodology that seeks to incorporate goal setting and evaluation into project designs. He argues that this will improve a project by monitoring the changing nature of goals through the life of a conflict resolution intervention, and action evaluation’s self-conscious attention to goal setting offers a …

A Two-Level Analysis Of Israel’S Strategy Toward Peace During The 1990s, Shlomo Mizrahi, Abraham Mehrez, Arye Naor

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper suggests a two-level game analysis of Israel’s strategy toward peace during the 1990s. The paper shows how various paradoxes in Israeli society create domestic obstacles and internal opposition that weaken Israel’s bargaining position toward neighboring countries. Treating domestic parameters in these countries as a given, we argue that Israeli leaders can hardly use this weakness to manipulate information in the bargaining process, because neighboring countries can observe Israel’s internal processes. Therefore, attempts by Israeli leaders to create the impression that they are willing to adopt a conflictual approach towards neighboring polities, especially the Palestinians, without actually creating the …

In The Eye Of The Storm: Humanitarian Ngos, Complex Emergencies, And Conflict Resolution, Janice Gross Stein

Peace and Conflict Studies

The challenges faced by non-governmental organizations seeking to mitigate violence within the context of “complex humanitarian emergencies” create new dilemmas and require new strategies. These emergencies arise from violence inflicted by one group against another within the confines of a state, from the capture of state institutions by one group, or by the collapse of these institutions and the failure of governance. They develop within a context of disengagement by the major powers and the privatization of emergency assistance.

I first analyze the dimensions of complex humanitarian emergencies, define the dilemmas humanitarian NGOs face and their implications for conflict resolution, …

Creative Marginality: Exploring The Links Between Conflict Resolution And Social Work, Jay Rothman, Randi Land Rothman, Mary Hope Schwoebel

Peace and Conflict Studies

The concept of creative marginality refers to the process through which researchers in academic fields move away from the mainstream and toward the margins of their fields and look toward the margins of other fields that may overlap with and fill in gaps in their fields. This interaction, occurring outside of disciplinary boundaries, promotes intellectual cross-fertilization, and it is often the site of innovation. This article examines the links and interactions between the academic disciplines and practices of social work and conflict resolution. The article describes the different theoretical frames and practical approaches of both social work and conflict resolution, …

Front Matter, Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Volume 8, Number 1 (May 2001), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Impact Evaluation Of The War­Torn Societies Project: Somaliland, Mary H. Schwoebel

Conflict Resolution Studies Faculty Articles

In 1991, four months after the collapse of the government of the Somali Democratic Republic, and the flight of its President, Mohamed Siyad Barre, the Republic of Somaliland was declared an independent state. The past decade has witnessed the struggle of the young state to resolve violent internal conflicts, to build sustainable peace among the different groups that constitute its population, to build a state that will sustain peace, and to rebuild an economy that will sustain the population. At the turn of the century, it has remarkably make significant progress towards accomplishing the first two aims, and is now …