Peace and Conflict Studies Commons^™

Humanitarian Diplomacy And The Need For Protecting Humanitarian Personnel In Contemporary Conflicts., Theodora Okiro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

When considering the increasing frequency with which humanitarian aid workers are being threatened, abducted or killed, one has to question the fundamental reason for this sharp rise in statistics. Are human and aid workers merely collateral damage in a conflict? Are they getting to close to the ‘eye’ of the conflict? Or is there another explanation? Due to the increased frequency by which they come to harm’s way, the answer is much more disturbing. They are intentional targets, because of the changing scopes of modern warfare. Armed groups such as the Taliban, who are analyzed in this paper, increasingly target …

Religion And Intimate Partner Violence: A Double-Edge Sword?, Lee E. Ross

Catalyst: A Social Justice Forum

This article examined hypothesized relations between Judeo-Christian religion and intimate partner violence. Given its complex and controversial nature, the following two questions were explored: (1) whether batterers selectively misinterpret scripture to justify or rationalize violence toward women, and (2) whether certain religious tenets around faith, the nature of marriage, the role of women and men, obedience, forgiveness, and salvation constrict and inevitably bind women to abusive relationships? An integrative literature review was employed to draw inferences among male patriarchy, religious scripture, and intimate partner violence. Overall, the findings are twofold: (1) elements of male patriarchy are included in much of …

The Korean Conflict And The United States National Security, Matthew Smith

Pepperdine Policy Review

The United States has a substantial interest in the Korean Conflict concerning its own national security. It is based primarily on the potential outcomes of the policies deriving from North Korea. The United States must maintain its relationship with South Korea in order to address any situation that arises on the Korean peninsula.

Preparing For The Inevitable: Us Climate Change Preparation, David Ernenwein

Pepperdine Policy Review

There is growing consensus in the scientific community that the global climate is changing. Increasing average global temperatures are expected to increase both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which will affect human civilization. However, these events do not need to become disasters. Analysis of past extreme weather disasters in the United States shows that failures in policy, specifically in terms of disaster preparedness, are the real culprit and not the actual weather event. Given the increasing destructiveness of storms and the projected increase in frequency, it makes formulating a coherent and effective national response a priority.

Oil Sands Extraction: Lessons From Alberta Can, And Should, Inform American Policies, Victoria Lopez

Pepperdine Policy Review

Enclosed is a final empirical project on foreign direct investment as impacted by (or impacting) infrastructure development levels in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

No Music In Timbuktu: A Brief Analysis Of The Conflict In Mali And Al Qaeda’S Rebirth, Nicholas Primo

Pepperdine Policy Review

State Department officials stated at the end of 2011 that after a careful review of year's events concerning the terror group Al Qaeda, the threat of terrorism was now greatly diminished with little chance of retunring. Less than four months later, Al Qaeda affiliate group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) staged a coup in the West African country of Mali, effectively splitting the country in half. The article will analyze the conflict in Mali as an example of how Islamic fundamentalism and global terrorism of Al Qaeda has not dissipated, despite the best hopes of American foreign policymakers. …

Financial Openness And Growth: 2000-2010, Amy Kennedy

Pepperdine Policy Review

In light of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn, policymakers are looking at other options to raise tax revenue. One such option proposed is a financial transaction tax which would tax various cross-border transactions such as banking or securities transactions. Yet, economic growth is arguably the better option for increasing revenue. One might further argue that a tax will lead to less revenue through reduced growth resulting from investors investing money in other tax free arenas. Therefore, this study looks at the relationship between financial openness and annual real GDP per capita growth to ascertain the effect of financial …

Can Clean Drinking Water And Sanitation Reduce Child Mortality In Senegal?, Catherine Bampoky

Pepperdine Policy Review

The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of clean drinking water, modern sanitation facilities and hygiene on child mortality rates in Senegal. Diarrhea-related morbidity is still fairly common among young children and this disease is mainly due to poor hygiene and environmental factors. Although extensive research has been done on the determinants of child mortality in Senegal, they were mainly descriptive studies that did not focus on a policy-related variable on which public policies could have a direct intervention. Using dummy dependent variable models, I find that drinking water source and sanitation facility are not individually statistically …

A Global Blasphemy Law: Protecting Believers At The Expense Of Free Speech, Kiley Widelitz

Pepperdine Policy Review

Since 1999, the Organization for Islamic Cooperation has annually introduced a resolution to the United Nations Human Rights Council to create an international blasphemy law. The United Nations is currently debating whether to accept a resolution that criminalizes blasphemy. In order to assess whether the United Nations should enact such a law, this article examines the laws of the United States in comparison to three countries that enforce their blasphemy laws: Indonesia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. This article concludes that the United Nations should follow the way of the United States and forgo any restriction on blasphemy, as blasphemy laws …

Fourth Time's The Charm?: Modeling A Psychologically-Based Peace Iv Program In Northern Ireland, Cailin A. Rogers

The Macalester Review

Abstract: Social conflict has consumed Northern Ireland for centuries. The relationship between Catholic Nationalists and Protestant Loyalists has proved difficult to reconcile–current policy approaches have been unable to attain peace. This paper seeks to explore the gaps in policy created by ignoring the important distinction between the social identities Nationalists and Loyalists have created and which they continue to perpetuate. This paper examines Social identity theory in context of Northern Ireland and applies the psychology of disparate community identities to current policies and trends in Northern Ireland to suggest reasons for a lack of progress towards peace. Unfortunately, contemporary Northern …

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 38-Cc, No. 6, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletters

Truth In Numbers Ugly

Breaking News? It's Breaking Us!

Resource Booklet Now Available

Dieron Vuelta la Condena al Genocida Ríos Month

How to Get a TX-Cure Free Fan

Samar Basi – “We Go There Together” The Local Peace Committees And Their Effect On Building Peace In Nepal, Jessica Faye Babcock

Capstone Collection

“We have ears but no hearing. We have eyes but no sight. But I hope our children do not have to go through a similar fate of ignorance.” – Kattike Nepali (Jumla)

From 1996 to 2006 Nepal experienced a horrible, civil conflict taking over 13,000 of its citizens, displaced another 25,000 with many more unaccounted for. With the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord in 2006, between the Government of Nepal and the Maoists insurgents, the violence ceased but the long road to recovery and peace began. Nepal is currently transitioning towards a democratic government. The establishment of a Constitutional …

Community Dialogue For Peace, Alida Furaha Umutoni, Elly Musafiri, Paul Rutayisire, Charles Gasarasi, Justin Murwanashyaka

Peace and Conflict Management Review

No abstract provided.

Downsizing The Army Profession, Leonard Wong

Articles & Editorials

No abstract provided.

Making War And Securing Peace: The Viability Of Peace Enforcement As A Mechanism For Promoting And Securing Civil War Termination, Shawn H. Greene

Political Science Honors Projects

Peace enforcement—the threat or use of military force to compel belligerent adherence to a civil war settlement—has become increasingly salient in the past decade. Using a hazards analysis of all civil wars and associated third party interventions between 1945 and 2013 in addition to three structured, focused case studies, I argue that peace enforcement operations that 1) utilize the appropriate typological spoiler management strategy and 2) maintain legitimacy and impartiality through close cooperation with UN peacekeepers, are the most successful at catalyzing civil war termination and securing durable peace. I also provide a theoretical framework through which to study peace …

Relational Identities: Reclaiming Ourselves Through Recreating Each Other In Collaborative Conversations In Group Therapy Work, Celia Quintas, Christopher F. Burnett

Peace and Conflict Studies

This project took place at an outpatient mental health setting, and offers new understandings in our pursuit for communal well-being. It documents the unique participation of group members in the co-creaction of new knowledge and better understanding of human relationships using a participatory action research methodology. The article explores how improvements can take place in the lives of people diagnosed as chronically mentally ill. It demonstrates how a postmodern, collaborative approach to group therapy impacted the ways in which persons diagnosed with serious and chronic mental illness recreated their identities, thereby affecting their ways of relating to others and to …

On Success In Peace Processes: Readiness Theory And The Aceh Peace Process, Amira Schiff

Peace and Conflict Studies

The study presents an analysis of the conflict resolution process in the Aceh conflict between the government of Indonesia (GoI) and the Free Aceh Movement (“Gerekan Aceh Merdeka” or GAM). Starting with unofficial efforts by the Indonesian side from mid-2003, which eventually led the parties to the negotiation table and to the signing of the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in August 2005, the peace process put an end to the 30-year conflict over the independence of Aceh. The peaceful resolution of the Aceh conflict will be examined using readiness theory, which posits the factors that lead parties to negotiate …

Volume 20, Number 1 (Spring 2013), Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Peace And Conflict Studies

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Facilitating Collaboration Among Health Care Professionals, Robin Cooper

Peace and Conflict Studies

This paper explores how principles and practices of mediation and facilitation can be applied to facilitate collaboration among health care professionals. Certain techniques of mediation and facilitation are uniquely suited to address issues of values, roles, communication, and teamwork—four core competency domains of interprofessional collaborative practice—within the organizational context in order to transform workplace conflict into constructive collaboration. This paper discusses how one might draw upon those mediation and facilitation skills and techniques in order to address profession-centrism, professional prejudice, and us vs. them thinking, which hinder interprofessional collaboration. Those trained in the theories and practices associated with conflict analysis …

From Positionality To Relationality: A Buddhist-Oriented Relational View Of Conflict Escalation And Its Transformation, Ran Kuttner

Peace and Conflict Studies

Through a theoretical analysis, this paper suggests that the Buddhist philosophy and psychology offer a unique contribution to our understanding of conflict escalation and the potential for its transformation from a relational point of view. In particular, it presents an in-depth analysis of conflict escalation, applying the Buddhist Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links models. With the help of these models, it analyzes the psychological process that invokes the escalation of conflict, resulting in what is considered “suffering” (Duhkha) in Buddhist thought, seen also as lack of relational awareness. The paper demonstrates how a Buddhist-oriented view of conflict adds value …

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 38-Bb, No. 5, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletters

Solidarity and Solitary

Eugene V. Debs During World War I

Tras el Maratón de Boston

Voices From Inside

Massacre In Central Burma: Muslim Students Terrorized And Killed In Meiktila, Richard Sollom, Holly G. Atkinson

Publications and Research

This report details the results of a Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) investigation into the March 20 and 21, 2013, attacks on Muslim students, teachers, and residents in the Mingalar Zayyone quarter of Meiktila, a small town in central Burma.

A two-person team, the authors of the report, from PHR conducted 33 interviews about the attacks, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 children and four teachers. The report details the attacks by the Buddhist mobs, provides evidence that local police officers were complicit in the crimes, and lists policy recommendations for the Burmese government and the international …

Grassroots Peacebuilding In Northern Ireland And The Border Counties: Elements Of An Effective Model, Olga Skarlato, Sean Byrne, Kawser Ahmed, Julie Marie Hyde, Peter Karari

Peace and Conflict Studies

Following the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement many community-based organizations became involved in localized peace-building activities in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Drawing financial support from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and the International Fund for Ireland, these organizations adopted various strategic mechanisms to implement their projects –synchronizing bottom-up development initiatives with top-level government policies. Their effectiveness has already been felt in Northern Ireland as reduced political violence and improved socioeconomic conditions. However, the long-term sustainability of this work is questionable, affected as it is by continued intercommunity segregation, low macro-level political support, and global economic instability. This …

Book Review: Occupying New Levels: A Comparative Review Of Occupy Nation And Networks Of Outrage And Hope, Kevin Revier

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

Peer Mediation In United States High Schools, Alexander Celeste, Patrick Buller

Peace Studies Student Work

This paper will first discuss the start of peer mediation programs in high schools. It will go on to discuss Avalon School as an example of an existing peer mediation program in a high school. From there it will discuss some details of certain elements of Avalon’s peer mediation program, including looking at the alternative options. It will conclude with comments on what this information tells us about future generations’ ability to positively resolve conflicts and where the reader can go from here.

The European Union In The Quartet: Acceptance And Influence In The Middle East Peace Process, Cassandra V. Emmons

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

No abstract provided.

U.S. State Department International Law Internship And Employment Presentation And Discussion, Andrew A. Passen Famu Diplomat-In Residence

Environmental and Animal Law

The Center for International Law & Justice presents a discussion and presentation by Andrew A. Passen, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, who is currently serving as Diplomat-in-Residence covering the southeast U.S. and is based at Florida A & M University in Tallahassee.

Catholic Relief Services Develops Mre Materials, Ta Thi Hai Yen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Since its formation in 1943, Catholic Relief Services has followed their mission to help impoverished and disadvantaged people overseas. This article discusses how CRS successfully implemented a mine risk education project that has decreased the number of incidents involving landmines and explosive remnants of war in heavily contaminated districts of Vietnam. As a direct result of the project, CRS’s MRE curriculum has been accepted by the provincial Department of Education and integrated with primary level public school curricula.

Catholic Relief Services Develops Mre Materials, Ta Thi Hai Yen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article presents state-of-the-art unexploded ordnance detection and classification, including examples from recent field-demonstration studies. After reviewing sensor technologies, with a focus on magnetic and electromagnetic systems, the authors discuss advanced processing techniques that allow for reliable discrimination between hazardous ordnance and harmless metallic clutter. Finally, the article shows results from a large-scale field demonstration conducted in 2011. In this case study, electromagnetic data acquired with an advanced sensor is used to identify ordnance at the site, reducing the number of excavations required with conventional metal detectors by 85%.