Protracted conflicts like those in the South Caucasus and Moldova stand as examples of the limits... more Protracted conflicts like those in the South Caucasus and Moldova stand as examples of the limits of international peace-building practices in addressing conflict transformation in various ethnic-marked conflicts, and in promoting reconciliation across the deep divides that these long-standing conflicts have generated within and among societies. A major challenge to supporting the transformation of protracted conflicts is that the conflict settings have been solidified as a new normality, and the polarised division between neighbours and within societies has been institutionalised. To address these challenges, we conceptualise cross-regional dialogue as a third-party facilitated process that brings together actors from various protracted conflict settings thus ensuring a greater diversity of opinions and societal standings. Cross-regional formats of dialogue, in our view, provide a space for suspending the dominant mutual antagonisms and for creative thinking about new horizons for ...
UN Secretary-General Ant onio Guterres has recently acknowledged that “backdoor mediation” and gr... more UN Secretary-General Ant onio Guterres has recently acknowledged that “backdoor mediation” and grassroots initiatives by non-state, informal actors play an important role in conflict prevention. In Burundi, women’s organizations have set up numerous grassroots initiatives to foster conflict transformation and prevent the reemergence of conflict. An examination of Burundian women’s organizations and Finnish NGOsworking in the field of peacemaking and conflict prevention demonstrates that both local and international NGOs can take a variety of actions, jointly or separately, to contribute to conflict prevention in fragile, conflict-torn countries. These actions, however, are not always conceptualized by peacebuilding actors and scholars working in the area as conflict prevention. The novel concept of “preventive mediation”may better capture the wide variety of such activities.
Private peacemakers are not newcomers in the peacemaking field and it is possible to recognize no... more Private peacemakers are not newcomers in the peacemaking field and it is possible to recognize nongovernmental actors adopting an intermediary role and becoming involved in peace processes dating back to 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. From these Cold War experiences of private peacemaking, three different kinds of actors emerge: the Quakers, the Catholic Church-related actors and academic practitioners. Comparing their role with those of the private peacemaking organizations in the 2000s and 2010s is a useful exercise that helps with recognition of elements of the continuum and recognition of similarities, but also highlights how the role of private peacemakers and their approach to peace processes have transformed.
As long as the outcome of mediation is seen solely to achieve a ceasefire or a peace agreement th... more As long as the outcome of mediation is seen solely to achieve a ceasefire or a peace agreement that brings end to fighting and violence, the questions of inclusivity in regard to participation and issues on the table have not been seen as crucial to track-one mediation. Classical mediation that takes place during open violent conflict is still predominantly composed of elite- and male-centric negotiations. Among all peacemakers, official and private, there exists a great amity that increase on inclusivity and women’s participation in particular to peace process contributes to sustainability of peace but even necessity of inclusivity has been recognized applying that principle into practice has not been a case. Still, it is not possible to build a completely exclusive track one peace process, and thus in most track one mediation cases some alternative tracks for linking civic society actors and, in particular, bringing women to official peace process have been initiated and executed. Because of the obvious incapability of track one peace negotiation with attaching inclusivity and engaging civic society actors, the so-called National Dialogues has been developed as a complementary and parallel instrument for track one mediation that would better fit with calls for inclusivity and local ownership, whilst preserving the focus on national-level processes and supporting the re-creation of state institutions and their legitimacy.
Transformation is an apt concept that from increasingly describes private peacemakers’ view of th... more Transformation is an apt concept that from increasingly describes private peacemakers’ view of the whole peace process; various interesting efforts to adjust the transformative approach to new practices of peace intervention are recognizable. The transformative approach to (peace) mediation practice contests the conventional frame of conflict management and thus has substantial consequences for the framing of (peace) mediation goals and practices. Nonetheless, the private peacemakers are far from a uniform group in this regard and their understanding of what the relationship between mediation and transformation is and how drastic terms of old premises of mediation should be revisited diverge between organizations, as well as individual staff members. Through transformative shift, the organization of dialogue processes, including both National Dialogues (NDs) and informal dialogues, has gained increasing significance in the private organizations’ niche as dialogue allows better attachment to the demands of inclusivity and local ownership. Dialogue platforms and workshops are not organized only to gain bottom-up legitimacy and support the reconciliation process, but they have been used increasingly as a tactical tool for breaking deadlocks, engaging new actors in the peace process, and facilitating the envisioning of a more peaceful future, in particular when the official negotiation forum has stalled.
Protracted conflicts like those in the South Caucasus and Moldova stand as examples of the limits... more Protracted conflicts like those in the South Caucasus and Moldova stand as examples of the limits of international peace-building practices in addressing conflict transformation in various ethnic-marked conflicts, and in promoting reconciliation across the deep divides that these long-standing conflicts have generated within and among societies. A major challenge to supporting the transformation of protracted conflicts is that the conflict settings have been solidified as a new normality, and the polarised division between neighbours and within societies has been institutionalised. To address these challenges, we conceptualise cross-regional dialogue as a third-party facilitated process that brings together actors from various protracted conflict settings thus ensuring a greater diversity of opinions and societal standings. Cross-regional formats of dialogue, in our view, provide a space for suspending the dominant mutual antagonisms and for creative thinking about new horizons for ...
UN Secretary-General Ant onio Guterres has recently acknowledged that “backdoor mediation” and gr... more UN Secretary-General Ant onio Guterres has recently acknowledged that “backdoor mediation” and grassroots initiatives by non-state, informal actors play an important role in conflict prevention. In Burundi, women’s organizations have set up numerous grassroots initiatives to foster conflict transformation and prevent the reemergence of conflict. An examination of Burundian women’s organizations and Finnish NGOsworking in the field of peacemaking and conflict prevention demonstrates that both local and international NGOs can take a variety of actions, jointly or separately, to contribute to conflict prevention in fragile, conflict-torn countries. These actions, however, are not always conceptualized by peacebuilding actors and scholars working in the area as conflict prevention. The novel concept of “preventive mediation”may better capture the wide variety of such activities.
Private peacemakers are not newcomers in the peacemaking field and it is possible to recognize no... more Private peacemakers are not newcomers in the peacemaking field and it is possible to recognize nongovernmental actors adopting an intermediary role and becoming involved in peace processes dating back to 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. From these Cold War experiences of private peacemaking, three different kinds of actors emerge: the Quakers, the Catholic Church-related actors and academic practitioners. Comparing their role with those of the private peacemaking organizations in the 2000s and 2010s is a useful exercise that helps with recognition of elements of the continuum and recognition of similarities, but also highlights how the role of private peacemakers and their approach to peace processes have transformed.
As long as the outcome of mediation is seen solely to achieve a ceasefire or a peace agreement th... more As long as the outcome of mediation is seen solely to achieve a ceasefire or a peace agreement that brings end to fighting and violence, the questions of inclusivity in regard to participation and issues on the table have not been seen as crucial to track-one mediation. Classical mediation that takes place during open violent conflict is still predominantly composed of elite- and male-centric negotiations. Among all peacemakers, official and private, there exists a great amity that increase on inclusivity and women’s participation in particular to peace process contributes to sustainability of peace but even necessity of inclusivity has been recognized applying that principle into practice has not been a case. Still, it is not possible to build a completely exclusive track one peace process, and thus in most track one mediation cases some alternative tracks for linking civic society actors and, in particular, bringing women to official peace process have been initiated and executed. Because of the obvious incapability of track one peace negotiation with attaching inclusivity and engaging civic society actors, the so-called National Dialogues has been developed as a complementary and parallel instrument for track one mediation that would better fit with calls for inclusivity and local ownership, whilst preserving the focus on national-level processes and supporting the re-creation of state institutions and their legitimacy.
Transformation is an apt concept that from increasingly describes private peacemakers’ view of th... more Transformation is an apt concept that from increasingly describes private peacemakers’ view of the whole peace process; various interesting efforts to adjust the transformative approach to new practices of peace intervention are recognizable. The transformative approach to (peace) mediation practice contests the conventional frame of conflict management and thus has substantial consequences for the framing of (peace) mediation goals and practices. Nonetheless, the private peacemakers are far from a uniform group in this regard and their understanding of what the relationship between mediation and transformation is and how drastic terms of old premises of mediation should be revisited diverge between organizations, as well as individual staff members. Through transformative shift, the organization of dialogue processes, including both National Dialogues (NDs) and informal dialogues, has gained increasing significance in the private organizations’ niche as dialogue allows better attachment to the demands of inclusivity and local ownership. Dialogue platforms and workshops are not organized only to gain bottom-up legitimacy and support the reconciliation process, but they have been used increasingly as a tactical tool for breaking deadlocks, engaging new actors in the peace process, and facilitating the envisioning of a more peaceful future, in particular when the official negotiation forum has stalled.
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