The crisis in Burundi began when President Pierre Nkurunziza declared that he would pursue a third term despite a two-term limitation in Burundi’s Constitution. Opposition parties along, with some members of President Nkurunziza’s own National Council for Defence of Democracy, Forces for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD), argued that President Nkurunziza’s decision to extend his rule beyond the maximum two-terms was in direct violation of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation agreement, also referred to as the Arusha agreement, signed in 2000. This action triggered opposition parties and civil society groups to organize peaceful protests to challenge President Nkurunziza’s third term bid. In response, government forces and Imbonerakure youth militia coordinated a campaign of repression and intimidation. The country of Burundi is characterized by political violence, targeted assassinations, and accusations of torture and rape by both government forces and armed opposition groups. The purpose of this study was to examine how the conflict surrounding presidential term limit manipulation affected the perception of peace and stability among people in Burundi. Understanding this phenomenon is extremely important because the recent hike in violence among Burundians has negatively affected the peace and stability of the nation. Through a mixed-method case study approach, the study’s main findings indicate the significant fracturing of citizen perceptions of peace and stability along identity lines, significant fear and insecurity among Burundians about the current crisis, as well as the continuing impact of the long-standing violence in the country’s past. Keywords: presidential term limits, conflict resolution, political violence, term limit manipulation, qualitative case study, and quantitative survey.

This grounded theory study explored the competing cultural expectations and cultural approaches by women from Latin American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries living in the United States. The study explored the following questions: In what ways do women from Latin America living in the United States establish priorities among potentially conflicting cultural expectations or roles? What internal conflicts result out of living between two cultures? What does the process for making sense of cultural expectations look like? How do Latin American women living in the United States make sense of this process? Using a constructivist grounded methodology, the research reflects the insights of 20 female participants from various Latin American and Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. The data analysis resulted in five major findings, illuminating a framework for understanding the process for making sense of conflicting cultural norms, expectations, and cultural approaches. This is presented in four stages, (1) confronting the new norm/expectation, (2) recognition/acknowledgment of the conflicting cultural value/norm/expectation, (3) adapting to the new context/situation and (4) managing from a cultural standpoint. The main decision-making process related to cultural expectations was tied to: (a) what it meant to be a woman from their native country in the United States and (b) what this means when they return to their country of origin. Concluding with “creating a new norm/dynamic,” this becomes the “balancing act” or “the dance between cultures."

Women living in northern Nigeria face a herculean challenge of overcoming direct and indirect violence. These include domestic violence, political instability, social inequality, and the threat of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is an extremist militant group that has been known to kidnap, rape, and torture women and young girls as means of terrorizing the Nigerian community. Northern Nigerian women have also faced challenges within their own community as they are barred from participating in public activities, are under-represented in government, forced into early marriages, and are often victims of domestic violence. This study examines the lived experiences of women peacebuilders living in northern Nigeria as they negotiate regional conflicts and manage the peacebuilding process. Seven northern Nigerian females between the ages of 30 to 60 were recruited to participate in this study. All came from diverse backgrounds but shared a commonality of peace building and conflict management within their respective communities. The goal of this study was to better understand the meaning of these experiences and to uncover how these women handle these daily challenges. Feminist standpoint and structural violence theories provide the theoretical framework to dissect the essence of their experiences. The study adopted Clark Moustaka’s approach towards conducting transcendental phenomenological research methods and procedure. The results of the study will inform project design and policy formulation and serve as a source for future research and interventions by development agencies and other stakeholders interested in peace within the region.

Current research indicates that abrasive conduct or incivility is on the rise in higher education and Ombuds are in a unique position to address this behavior. By applying transcendental phenomenological methodology to examine Ombuds experience when handling these types of cases and how the complex structures of higher education impact what they do, this study provides insights into how other institutions and organizations can address the rise in abrasive conduct amongst university faculty, staff and students. I interviewed ten university Ombuds experienced with cases of incivility, and I asked them open-ended questions regarding how they define and identify abrasive conduct. I also asked them questions regarding their roles and how they work within the structure of academia. I analyzed the data gathered from these interviews using Moustakas’ (1994) modification of the Van Kaam Method. Four common themes emerged from the data analysis. The four theses are listed below: The Visitor’s story is the Ombuds experience How Ombuds define and identify abrasive conduct The powerful impact of the academic structure Guiding dynamics and the role of the Ombuds The results of this research provide insight to Ombuds and organizations regarding how the Ombuds role can help identify, address and prevent abrasive conduct.

Research has begun to focus on the role third-party diplomatic intervention plays in the length of civil conflicts. Diplomatic interventions by a third-party actor are assumed to help resolve or alleviate violence over time. Is this really the case? Hypotheses relating to these aspects of civil wars are proposed to test this long-standing assumption. This thesis uses statistical analysis to observe the relationship between diplomatic interventions and civil war duration and then observe the relationship between duration and civil war violence. The data incorporates approximately 150 civil wars from 1945 to 1999, 101 of which had outside interventions. This thesis finds that, contrary to ex ante expectations, diplomatic interventions are a significant contributing factor to civil war length. Furthermore, longer civil wars are not associated with more civil war intensity in the aggregate, suggesting that longer civil wars do not mean more violent or intense ones.

Classical approaches to conflict resolution assume that inducing conflict parties to analyse conflict constellations precipitates that the disputants recognise mutually shared needs or interests. Partially in critical reaction towards this assumption, a more recently emerging approach envisages setting up a communicative framework within which the conflict parties are supposed to harmonise their conceptualisations of the conflict. This dissertation, in contrast, argues that work within the frameworks of these classes of approaches is impolitic as long as war-related hostilities stay intact, since conflict parties which see the existence of the adversary as the core of the problem are unlikely to engage in a process of open communication or open analysis, so that trustbuilding is a sine qua non. Practice experiences of local NGOs in the former Yugoslavia suggest that the following activities can be conducive to trustbuilding: 1) supporting exchanges on personalising information, so that the internal heterogeneity of the opponent¿s group is rendered visible; 2) bringing intergroup iii commonalities to the foreground, either through cooperation on shared aspirations, or by unearthing interpersonal overlaps e.g. common feelings, values, and war-related experiences; 3) undermining the imagination of the own side¿s moral superiority by fostering the recognition of crimes and suffering inflicted by the own side. For those cultural and religious differences which persist after basic trustbuilding, a contingency approach is proposed: 1) Fostering the exploration of commonalities and differences; 2) If disagreements remain despite a better basic understanding, tolerance of these difference can be based on a better understanding of the values¿ background, and on an acceptance of differing beliefs as equal in valence; 3) Supporting the discovery of joint values to raise awareness for options of cohabitation with differences; disagreements which cannot be solved might be continued within an accepted communicative framework based on these shared values.

No / Nowhere in the world is the demand for peace more prominent and challenging than in Africa. From state collapse and anarchy in Somalia to protracted wars and rampant corruption in the Congo; from bloody civil wars and extreme poverty in Sierra Leone to humanitarian crisis and authoritarianism in Sudan, the continent is the focus of growing political and media attention. This book presents the first comprehensive overview of conflict and peace across the continent. Bringing together a range of leading academics from Africa and beyond, "Peace and Conflict in Africa" is an ideal introduction to key themes of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, security and development. The book's stress on the importance of indigenous Africa approaches to creating peace makes it an innovative and exciting intervention in the field.

This essay contains a comparative case study of the concept of peace education in two WestAfrican countries: Ghana and Burkina Faso. The purpose of this study is to explain, understandand investigate how peace education can contribute to peace with Ghana as an example. Thepurpose of this study is also to explain, understand and investigate the effect that the lack ofpeace education has with Burkina Faso as an example. The study will explore, investigate,analyze, compare and discuss the occurrence of peace education according to Ian M. Harris´(2004) theory and explanation of the subject in both countries to be able to describe andcomprehend the effects of peace education. The result and conclusion of this study is that peaceeducation is more common in the case of Ghana than in Burkina Faso and can have somepositive effects on communities who want to prevent conflict from developing. / Denna uppsats innehåller en jämförande fallstudie av konceptet fredsutbildning i tvåvästafrikanska länder: Ghana och Burkina Faso. Syftet med studien är att förklara, förstå ochundersöka hur fredsutbildning kan bidra till fred med Ghana som exempel. Syftet är även attförklara, förstå och undersöka effekter av brist på fredsutbildning med Burkina Faso somexempel. Studien kommer att utforska, undersöka, analysera, jämföra och diskutera förekomstav fredsutbildning i båda länderna med utgångspunkt i Ian M. Harris (2004) teori om ochredogörelse för ämnet med syfte att förklara och förstå effekter av fredsutbildning. Studiensresultat är att fredsutbildning är mer utbredd i Ghana än i Burkina Faso och kan ha vissapositiva effekter för samhällen som vill förebygga konflikter.

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[pt] Embora constitua uma preocupação prática e teórica há muito mais tempo, a partir do fim da Guerra Fria, a Resolução de Conflitos tornou-se concomitantemente mais importante e mais complexa. A explosão de conflitos em grande medida represados durante as décadas anteriores, desencadeados por controvérsias sociais no geral muito enraizadas, forçou uma reinvenção da disciplina. Multiplicam-se demandas práticas por maior inclusão e transparência na condução de processos de paz, de modo que hoje dificilmente uma negociação que não faça acenos à população terá grandes chances de ser vista como legítima. Ao passo que especialistas começam a se debruçar sobre formas de promover a inclusão sem ao mesmo tempo entulhar a mesa de negociações de pontos de vista distintos, vai-se comprovando aos poucos que a paz inclusiva é também a paz durável. Esta pesquisa objetiva contemplar essa discussão por um ângulo menos usual - o da representação política. Ao invés de pensar na inclusão como instrumento de criação da representatividade, averiguaremos o papel da representação em possibilitar (ou não) a inclusão. Argumenta, portanto, que é preciso pensar a inclusão através da representação, e não o contrário. Para isso, será erguida uma ponte teórica entre os campos da Resolução de Conflitos e da Ciência Política. Acredita-se, em última análise, que a representação concretizada pelas mesas de negociação ajuda a explicar o surgimento de padrões de inclusão e exclusão em processos de paz. / [en] While it constitutes a practical and theoretical concern for a much longer time, after the Cold War, Conflict Resolution became simultaneously more important and more complex. The explosion of conflicts largely suppressed over the previous decades, unleashed by ingrained social controversies, forced reinvention upon the discipline. Practical demands for greater inclusion and transparency in the handling of peace processes multiplied, which explains why today hardly ever a negotiation that does not consider popular needs will have great chances of being seen as legitimate. While specialists start to tackle ways to promote inclusion without, at the same time, hoarding the negotiation table with too many different points of view, it is becoming increasingly clearer that an inclusive peace is also a durable peace. This research aims to contemplate this discussion through a less usual lens - the one of political representation. Instead of thinking about inclusion as an instrument to achieve representativeness, we will evaluate the role of political representation in allowing (or not) for inclusion. It argues, thus, that it is necessary to reflect on inclusion through representation, not the other way around. In order to do that, it will build a theoretical bridge between the fields of Conflict Resolution and Political Science. Ultimately, the political representation put forth by negotiation tables may help explain the emergence of inclusion and exclusion patterns during peace processes.