Department of International Relations School of Social Sciences / The formulation of International Law has been greatly driven by Western principles. These principles have been applied to the world at large as a result of the continuing hegemony of the global north. Consequently, what is deemed to be just and unjust, legitimate and illegitimate in international relations is dictated by these set standards that have been reified throughout history. Sovereign states, as realist theorist tend to emphasize, are at the core of international relations. One of the basic premises of Realism is that the absence of central authority in the international system is bound to lead to conflict. Various international relations theorists have contributed to this literature in their attempts to unpack causes, solutions and justifications for war. The United Nations Charter provides perhaps the most concrete guidelines and codifications of proper state conduct in the pursuit of peace and order and the resolution of conflicts. However, with the progression of history, the nature of conflict in international relations has experienced various changes. One of these changes worth analysing is the shift away from states as single most important actors in a conflict-prone international context. As a matter of fact, the recent history of international relations has been marked by the rise of non-state actors. This research paper seeks to investigate this shift by revisiting Just War Theory against non-state actors in conflict in Africa using the cases of the Mai Mai Bakata Katanga in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Pirates in Somlia’s Gulf of Aden.

The liberal peace approach guided the Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes under the auspices of the United Nations. While both practitioners and policymakers recognised that context fitted approaches are required, which resulted in the revision of DDR policy and practice, the driving principle approach remained the liberal peace theory, which creates a hierarchical relationship between the intervener and the intervened. I argue that applying the relational sensibility concept that places relations, dialogue, and hybridity in its focus can (potentially) contribute to a more effective locally designed, led, and implemented reintegration programme that is owned by the different stakeholders instead of imposed. Most reintegration programmes focused on the economic reintegration of ex combatants yielding limited results. I argue that social development for not only former combatants but also for youth at-risk of criminalisation is an essential element of reintegration. I probe the applicability of an alternative peace-building approach to the liberal peace that prioritises actions over relations by reviewing past DDR programmes and a specific case study in Somalia. I establish that an inclusive, community-based reintegration programme that focuses on the social rehabilitation and integration of vulnerable and at-risk youth by strengthening their social and spiritual capitals, as well as promotes restorative justice, can contribute to the decreased level of aggression at the individual level and the perceptions of the increased level of community security in Somalia. I conclude that DDR programmes both policy and practice, should look into more community-based approaches, inclusivity, and balancing between social and economic development opportunities.

Justice and reconciliation are both highly complex concepts that are often described as incompatible alternatives in the aftermath of violent conflicts, despite the fact that both are fundamental to peacebuilding in societies divided by the legacies of political violence, oppression and exclusion. This thesis examines the relationship between justice and reconciliation, pursued as essential ingredients of peacebuilding. After advancing an inclusive working conceptual framework in which seemingly competing conceptions regarding justice and reconciliation are reconceived to work compatibly for building peace, the thesis presents the results of an in-depth case study of Rwanda¿s post-genocide justice and reconciliation endeavour. The thesis focuses on Rwanda¿s justice and reconciliation efforts and their relationship to the ongoing challenge of reformulating Rwandans¿ social identities. A field research conducted for this study revealed that issues of victimhood, justice and reconciliation were highly contested among individuals and groups with varied experiences of the country¿s violent history. Resolving these conflicting narratives so that each Rwandan¿s narrative/identity is dissociated from the negation of the other¿s victimhood emerged as a paramount challenge in Rwanda¿s quest for justice and reconciliation. Rwanda¿s approach to justice and reconciliation can be seen as an innovative both/and approach that seeks to overcome dichotomous thinking by addressing various justice and reconciliation concerns in compatible ways. However, by limiting its efforts to the issues that arose from crimes committed under the former regimes, the justice and reconciliation endeavour of the Rwandan government fails to reconcile people¿s conflicting narratives of victimhood, which will be essential to transform the existing racialised and politicised ethnic identities of Rwandan people. / Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID)

no / This book is an invitation to reflect on the dangers that threaten the stability, security and world peace. The authors point to climate change, competition for natural resources, the gap between rich and poor and the proliferation of military technologies as factors capable of triggering violent conflict, civil unrest and destabilization of international order in the near future if immediate measures are not taken. From a rigorously researched analysis, then present strategies and sustainable alternatives to build a more cooperative, fair and conscious future. A book that promises to change the way you view the world.

This study explores the power of ethnonationalist conflict-generated diasporas (CGD) as external actors in homeland conflict by exploring the nature of their political engagement on a transnational level using Internet Communication technologies (ICTs), with Rwanda as a case study. Virtual ethnography was chosen as the research methodology to explore the online activities of Rwandan CGD using social media (social networking sites) to form virtual transnational networks for political purposes. Diasporic online formations and activities were mapped in order to gain increased insights into ways that CGD use social media to engage in homeland conflict, and the effect their engagement has on the conflict cycle in the home country. Results of the study revealed that Rwandan CGDs demonstrate attitudes and motivations to act in ways that are consistent with other case studies of CGD, including exhibiting an enduring commitment and loyalty to co-ethnics, a romanticized conceptualization of homeland and a myth of return home. The results also revealed Rwandan CGDs¿ strong propensity to use social media to engage in homeland conflict on a political level through the development of a large and dense transnational network used for a range of political purposes, including the dissemination of genocide denial and propaganda consistent with the pre-genocide propaganda campaign. Implications for peace-building and conflict analysis are discussed.

Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programmes for ex-combatants have become an important component of many, if not most, post-conflict stabilisation, peace-building and recovery programmes over the 15 – 20 years. They are specifically focussed on ‘ex-combatants’, a category which for DDR purposes includes direct ex-combatants and those closely associated with them including spouses, ‘camp followers’ and dependents. The experience with DDR has provided many lessons. International standards and good-practice guidelines for DDR have become relatively highly elaborated in recent years. The UN Integrated Disarmament, Demobilisation and Re-Integration Standards (IDDRS) represent the fullest expression of this, composed of some 800 pages of detailed guidance to practitioners, as distilled by a special UN Inter-Agency Working Group and the work of dozens of international experts.1 Such standards are recently developed, and their adoption and usefulness has yet to be fully tested. One overall aim of this project is to critically examine the understandings informing such standards, and clarify how they may be revised or developed. It is clear that there are continuing problems in practice. For example, several recent UN-mandated DDR programmes have seriously struggled to establish an effective focus, and have in some cases had to be re-launched several times. Haiti and Southern Sudan provide two examples of this. Part of the problem is that DDR programmes are continuing to be mandated as if they can in themselves address much of a war-torn country’s post-conflict security building needs. In fact, DDR needs to be co-ordinated with a range of other post-conflict security building programmes, including Security Sector Reform (SSR), wider arms collection and management programmes, transitional justice, peace-building and reconciliation processes. DDR needs to be one of several peace and security-building programmes, all co-ordinated within the overall framework of a broad peace-building and recovery strategy and process.

How can actors and agencies in post-conflict societies construct activities and navigate theirways through the challenges affecting locally owned peace process? What are the majorchallenges obstructing the goals for peace-building in local post-conflict societies? How canthese challenges be tackled to enable local peace process to become sustainable? These questionsare deeply motivated by the presumably failed peace-building processes in Myanmar. This thesisseeks to contribute to the feasibility of peace-building in local context. To highlight thechallenges of locally owned peace process which- are shaped by the elements of local ownership,this thesis offers a layout on which peace practitioners, policy makers and donor agencies canembed their framework for local peace operations in post-conflict societies. The existing elementof local ownership distorts reality and creates numerous challenges for post-conflict internal andexternal actors and agencies implementing peace framework. To counter the impediments oflocal ownership in post-conflict peace-building, this thesis argues for external-local ownershipand cooperation, as a means to promote and strengthen transparency of all forms of supportsnecessary to achieve sustainable peace-building goals in local post-conflict societies.

Over the past decade academics and policymakers have increasingly recognised the growing importance of diasporas. While diasporas have been variously defined, an important common element is continued identity with the ‘home’ country even when many years have been spent in the ‘host’ country (Lyons, 2004b: 3). Some may even not have visited their ‘home country’ but offer valuable political support. For example, even though many of the Jewish diaspora in the United States have never been to Israel, let alone been born there, they nevertheless mobilise support for the Jewish ‘homeland’ (Mearsheimer and Walt, 2006). For the academic community, diasporas thus offer a challenge to the traditional ‘inside/outside’ conception of social life whereby socio-political activities are defined as either purely ‘domestic’ or purely ‘international’ (Al-Ali and Koser, 2002). Diasporas are, at one and the same time, both and neither. As suggested by Shain (2002), diasporas form a distinct ‘third level’ between interstate and domestic politics — a type of transnational actor that is becoming increasingly important due to the globalisation of markets, politics and culture. How, through what mechanisms and with what impact diasporas express themselves as ‘transnational actors’, therefore, is currently a matter of intense research. While there is an expanding literature in this area, there has been less research on diasporas in the field of conflict and peace studies. Here research has tended to emphasise the role of diasporas as ‘peace-wreckers’, though work has emerged emphasising the role of diasporas as ‘peace-makers’ (Smith and Stares, 2007).

The work of peace practitioners was already complex before the fourth industrial revolution took place. Since then, it has gotten increasingly challenging. What is the current status quo of technology in terms of peacebuilding? How can peace practitioners work with instead of against Goliath? This research included qualitative semi-structured interviews with five peace practitioner experts working in the field of peacebuilding. Through a thematic analysis six themes could be identified, which have the names as follows: Let the positive peace grow, Recipe for disaster, In agreements we trust, Batman’s utility belt, Duct tape and hope. The urgency for progress from the side of social media platforms as well as more education and experience with the platforms from the side of peace practitioners is discussed in this paper. It comes to the conclusion that there is a need to bring everyone to the table and, through that, ensure long-term and sustainable peace. Further, the demand for a still ongoing work process of “duct tape and hope” / Fredsarbetares arbete var komplext redan innan den fjärde industriella revolutionen. Sedan dess har det bara blivit mer och mer utmanande. Vad är teknikens nuvarande status quo när det gäller fredsbyggande? Hur kan fredsarbetare arbeta med, istället för mot, Goliat? Den här uppsatsen omfattar kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fem fredsaktörer/experter som arbetar inom området för fredsbyggande. Genom en tematisk analys kunde sex teman identifieras: låt den positiva freden växa, dömt att misslyckas, lita på överenskommelser, Batmans verktygsbälte, silvertejp och hopp. I denna uppsats diskuteras behovet av utveckling bland sociala medieplattformar samt mer utbildning och erfarenhet av plattformarna bland fredsarbetare. Slutsatsen är att det finns ett behov av att bjuda in alla till förhandlingsbordet och på så sätt säkerställa en långsiktig och hållbar fred. Dessutom krävs en kontinuerlig arbetsprocess med “silvertejp och hopp”

Yes / This paper is a preliminary consideration of the question of how Diaspora from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone could contribute to peace building in their home states. Often Diasporas are regarded as obstacles to peace building, so it is not the assumption of this scoping paper that the relationship between Diasporas and peace building will always be positive. That being said, neither does the paper make the assumption that the Diaspora are homogenous groups that behave in consistent and coordinated ways. The aim is to consider what scope there is for tapping into more positive elements of Diaspora relations with their homelands as they emerge from conflict.