OxPeace Conference 2009: The Serious Study of Peace

Breakout session on ‘Post-conflict reconstruction and Peacebuilding’, third talk: Johanna Boersch-Supan, D.Phil. Candidate, Politics and International relations, Oxford University.

Breakout session on ‘Post-conflict reconstruction and Peacebuilding’, second talk: Bjorn Muller-Wille, Royal Military Academy , Sandhurst. As part of a trend to improve the coherence and effectiveness of multidimensional interventions donor states are increasingly willing to invest development assistance in conflict areas; resulting in a strong interest in determining which instruments contribute to a broad array of short term 'stability,' political and security objectives as well as a collection of longer term sustainable development and peace building solutions. These activities have tended to be grouped under the label of the 'stabilisation' agenda and most donor states have faced common challenges in institutionalising and operationalising the growing body of aspirations inherent in this. This has raised questions about which instruments work, what objectives they might reasonably serve and under what conditions they might realistically achieve results. States have also struggled with the process of managing and integrating stabilisation activities delivered by very different government departments and across international institutions. These challenges have contributed to a much broader trend in which donor states and international organisations have sought to professionalise working 'on', rather than just 'in' conflict. It has also focused attention on the role of, synergies between and the overall effectiveness of development activities (broadly defined), the generation or provision of security, institutional capacity building and political outreach in achieving 'stabilisation outcomes'. This paper unpacks many of these issues in the specific contexts of Southern Afghanistan. It places the challenge of evaluation in three 'baskets' — difficulties in establishing 'strategic' and 'operational' priorities; difficulties defining and prioritising 'instruments' and reconciling 'action' with strategy and, thirdly, the difficulties derived from the nature of the operational environment and the ambitious nature of international aspirations. The Afghan case study explores the evolution of NATO's Regional Command South's (RC(S)) operational plans, the development of the RC (South) national contributors' own plans and the range of challenges that have been encountered in monitoring and evaluating both organisational performance and the delivery of higher order objectives. Having identified these challenges it draws attention to the way in which some of these have been addressed and what currently comprises best practice.

Breakout session on ‘Post-conflict reconstruction and Peacebuilding’, first talk: Dr Stuart Gordon, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. 'Stabilisation' has emerged as a powerful policy discourse guiding international interventions in conflict areas. The UK has been amongst the forefront of states adopting and developing the 'stabilisation' model and has adapted government policy, processes and structures in its efforts to deliver 'stability' in both Iraq and Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Its experience in Helmand in particular is likely to shape both future UK approaches and that of other donor states. Consequently this paper focuses principally on the British experience of stabilisation in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, addressing two elements: firstly, the development, content, perceived distinctiveness and significance of stabilisation as a distinct policy discourse. Secondly the nature and practical policy implications of stabilisation in southern Afghanistan, particularly for humanitarian actors.

Breakout session on ‘Peace and Transitional Justice’, third talk: Lydiah Kemunto Bosire, D.Phil. Candidate, Politics and International Relations, Oxford University. The establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in July 2002 created a permanent forum for prosecuting those held 'most responsible' for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, and brought fresh promise to management of past, ongoing, and future conflicts. The ICC's intervention in ongoing conflict is thought to bring peace, even while the mechanisms by which the ICC might result in such peace remain unclear. The contested role of the ICC in Uganda is an example: while at one point the Court was credited for bringing the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group to the table, at a later point the Court was blamed for derailing that same peace process. This paper draws on fieldwork conducted in Uganda in 2007 and 2008 to assess the role the ICC played in the Juba peace talks between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army. Based on interviews with elites involved in the peace process, the paper suggests that the role of the ICC cannot be understood outside the interests and motivations of elite agents.

Breakout session on ‘Peace and Transitional Justice’, second talk: Chris Mahony, D.Phil Candidate, Politics and International Relations, Oxford University.

Breakout session on ‘Peace and Transitional Justice’, first talk: Briony Jones, Ph.D. Candidate, Manchester University; Student Chair, Oxford Transitional Justice Research. In the post Cold War era there has been a shift towards positive peace approaches in response to increases in intrastate conflicts. This has been part of an entrenchment of a liberal peace agenda, increased interventionism, and a greater complexity in peace-building. Such a shift has included a focus on social reconstruction in post-conflict societies and attention to reconciliation as part of transitional justice. Whilst reconciliation's normative project of restoring moral community has rarely been forced to defend itself, recent work on the politics of reconciliation suggest examination is needed on the political community which is implied, and on the dynamics between reconciliation and its citizen. This paper draws on fieldwork undertaken in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH), a site of massive external peace-building intervention following the 1992-1995 war. One district in Bill did not become part of the two ethnic entities established in the peace accords, Bre'ko District (BD). This place has been hailed as a success story of return and reconciliation, but the experiences of those living in BD suggest a more nuanced approach is needed. The requirements of reconciliation based reforms in BD of an individualized, rights-bearing, and participatory citizen are challenged by experiences of uneven enabling conditions of citizenship and perceptions of a citizenship project which lacks meaning in context.

Breakout session on ‘Grassroots Peacebuilding – and linking it to national and international levels’, second talk: Dr Rama Mani, Centre for International Studies, Oxford University. This presentation addresses two issues. First, it analyses why we have largely failed to stem the tide of violence and political conflict despite significant international attention and resources devoted to conflict prevention, peacemaking and post-conflict peacebuilding since 1989. Second, it proposes an alternative approach to prevent violent conflict and build peace, based on equity, inclusion and creativity.

The presentation argues that a reinvigorated two-step approach is required to prevent violent conflict and build peace. The first step is to heal the wounds that cause/d and were aggravated by war, and the second subsequent step is to create anew, to build an integrated, equitable, and inclusive society that does not allow the re-emergence of exclusive and divisive policies and attitudes. International actors have a 'responsibility to protect' but must reflect on why they are often perceived as intervening based on self interest rather than humanitarian values. Crafting and building peace cannot be entrusted to external experts, or to national technocrats and politicians alone: it is a profound cultural, philosophical, artistic and spiritual endeavour that can only be undertaken from within, with the full participation of all sectors of grassroots civil society. Inclusion, integrity and unfettered creativity are the sources of lasting peace.

Breakout session on ‘Grassroots Peacebuilding – and linking it to national and international levels’, first talk: Fr Elias Omondi Opongo, Ph.D. candidate, Dept of Peace Studies, Bradford University. The end of the Cold War marked a new beginning for Non Governmental Organizations' (NGOs) engagement in peacebuilding and conflict transformation at the grassroots and middle level interventions. However, while the last two decades have seen a decrease in inter-state wars, intra-state conflicts escalated, subsequently provoking a gradual paradigm shift in responding to humanitarian crisis in conflict settings: from a relief only approach, to relief-development, and recently to a conflict intervention and peace-building approach. But what are the interactive conflict dynamics that render NGOs as leading age actors in complex emergencies to sustainable peacebuilding processes?

Breakout session on 'The Role of International and Regional Organizations in Peacemaking, Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping', third talk: Dr Jochen Prantl, Oxford University, reflects on a lack of effective learning from peacebuilding experience. This paper highlights the structural impediments to effective coordination and learning in peacebuilding. While the post Cold-War security environment fostered the merger of the security and development agendas and seemed to call for stronger multilateral and multi-level (IGOs, states, NGOS, beneficiaries) partnerships to meet the challenges of managing conflict and building peace, the record has been underwhelming thus far. Review of lessons-learned exercises focusing on coordination illustrates that similar errors and weaknesses are identified in various conflicts, similar lessons are drawn from them, and the same errors and weaknesses re-emerge in later conflicts. This pattern suggests a deeper underlying problem, which will be addressed in the paper.

Breakout session on 'The Role of International and regional Organizations in Peacemaking, Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping,' second talk: Professor Neil MacFarlane, Lester Pearson Professor of International Relations, Oxford University.