A major threat in present political climate is identity group conflict as shown in such disparate cases as former Yugoslavia, Rwanda , Northern Ireland and the rise in racism and xenophobia in Europe. Conflict Resolution theory has addressed itself to intervention in existing conflict situations either by third parties or the conflicting parties themselves but conflict prevention has been a relatively neglected area. This thesis takes a case study of relations between the Muslim and white majority communities in Bradford where underlying tensions occasionally erupt into conflicts which have national ramifications and sometimes international dimensions. Within this situation there is scope for conflict resolution work but also conflict prevention work. Reference is made to Northern Ireland where identity group conflict has been longstanding and where community relations approaches have ben tried and tested over a period of fifteen to twenty yeas. The community relations work already being undertaken in Bradford is explored along with where and how this needs to be strengthened. An action research project was undertaken to bring together young members of the Muslims and white majority communities in an attempt to assess the usefulness of workshop based approaches in improving inter-group relations and transmitting skills of conflict handling to the participants.

This diploma thesis addresses globally discussed topic of potential development co-operation effects on conflict prevention in Africa. After theoretical and historical analysis of the roots and development of conflicts in 11 selected Sub-Saharan African states, this thesis points out through several real examples different and often unexpected results of development programs. From partial conclusions, which have clear geographic connection, the thesis uses simple induction method to evaluate and to recommend further proactive changes in development policies.

The purpose of this study is to examine secondary teachers' perceptions of conflict, conflict management, conflict prevention and conflict communication. In addition to theory, I conducted individual interviews and focus group discussions. Most teachers have a common view and argues that a conflict occurs when two or more individuals do not agree on something. Typical conflicts are about grades, teachers' changing professional roles and cellphones in the classroom. In my view, it seems as if the mobile phone has taken over the core conflict that caps created for some 10 years ago, functioning now as the dominant symbol in an ongoing development process providing space for meeting and dealing with conflicts in a constructive way. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka gymnasielärares uppfattningar om konflikter, konflikthantering, förebyggande av konflikter och kommunikation vid konflikter. Förutom teori, har jag genomfört enskilda intervjuer och diskussioner i fokusgrupper. De flesta lärare har en samsyn och menar att konflikter handlar om att två eller flera är oense om något. Typiska konflikter handlar om betyg, lärarnas förändrade yrkesroll och mobiltelefoner på lektioner. Enligt min uppfattning ser det ut som om mobiltelefonen övertagit konflikthärden kepsen skapade för ett 10-tal år sedan och att dessa blir som symboler som ingår i en ständig utvecklingsprocess och ger utrymme för att möta och hantera konflikter konstruktivt.

Since the 1990s, ethnic divisions have replaced the cold war as the world's most important source of violent conflict (Lijphart 2002). According to Fearon and Laitin (2003), a conservative estimate of the total dead between 1945 and 1999 is 16.2 million, five times the interstate toll, as a direct result of about 127 civil wars that each killed at least 1,000. The problem of ethnic tensions is so widespread and serious that it has presented a major impediment to further democratization in this century and has possibly caused a third reverse wave of democratization (Lijphart 2002). Are ethnic tensions and conflicts inevitable in heterogeneous states? Which governmental institutions (parliamentary or presidential) and electoral systems (PR or SMD) create the best framework for addressing ethnic conflict? Is there any one-size-fits-all institutional solution to ethnic conflict? This dissertation aims at answering these urgent but under-explored questions, especially the last two about the effects of institutional arrangements. This dissertation will hold out institutional prescriptions that meet the needs of specific divided societies through a large-N quantitative study covering all ethnic groups in Minorities at Risk dataset from 1985 to 2003. / text

This dissertation offers a perspective through which we can explore the processes of joint development and security interventions in conflict-prone regions. In employing the experiences of the Northern Region of Ghana as my case study, this thesis examines the ways that the rationales of both development and security interventions are articulated in the field of practice. The central argument of the thesis is that most analyses of aid interventions, particularly those stemming from mainstream development literature, rarely interrogate the underlying rationales and assumptions behind the ideas, strategies and discourses employed in aid intervention. Notably, these rationales and assumptions tend to reduce the complexity of development and security challenges, and, as an end result, facilitate the implementation of technical solutions. The translation of development and security discourses and strategies into programmable practices as they encounter a local population is characterized by complex processes. Following the central argument of the thesis, the key research question interrogates the way that the rationales behind development aid and security interventions have been articulated in conflict- prone Northern Region and how they have been received by the local population. With the overarching aim of understanding the complexities associated with the joint articulation of development and security programmes, this study provides a unique and critical analysis of international development and security practices. The study also provides deeper understanding of the broad socio-economic and political contexts for the delivery of aid interventions. I scrutinize the rationales behind these interventions through the critical examination of colonial practices and three contemporary interventions: 1) Region-wide interventions, 2) the UN Human Security Program, and 3) Post-liberal interventions used as a panacea to prevailing implementation challenges. Based on the analysis of archival documents, alongside policy, program, and interview documents, my study reveals the ways that the development-security nexus perpetrates liberal practices in the declared conflict-prone Northern Region of Ghana. I also evaluate the way that the development-security nexus reconstitutes individuals as resilient subjects through practices of empowerment and entrepreneurialism, and demonstrates the contestations, contradictions, and colonial features that characterize interventions in the field of articulation.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Africa’s socio-economic reconstruction and development is constrained by the spate of violent conflicts afflicting the continent. Internecine strife and humanitarian concerns have prompted international debates surrounding the efficacy of existing conflict prevention, management and resolution strategies. With Africa seemingly in a semi-permanent state of tension and crisis, and the inability of the global and continental systems and structures to effectively deal with these situations, it requires a disentanglement of a “complex interplay of institutional-bureaucratic and political dynamics,” that place the continent at the centre of intervention dilemma. At the end of the Cold War, violent conflicts on the continent did not wither away, but have become so complex, thus confounding efforts to achieve sustainable peace. This complexity requires greater efforts to improve international, regional and subregional institutional capacities and contingency instruments to facilitate effective responses. The key emphasis within the international community is to enhance instruments to facilitate early detection of conflict situations in order to initiate preventive actions. Put differently, conflict prevention can be facilitated through the dynamic improvement of the processes, structures and functions of (conflict) early warning systems (EWS). In addition, political will is crucial towards the operationalisation of such systems to ensure swift and coordinated implementation of preventive actions. Cedric de Coning argues that conflict early warning systems can “improve our ability to generate the political will necessary to authorize preventive action much earlier in the conflict cycle, by improving our ability to estimate the potential future cost of inaction, and the way we bring this information to the attention of decision makers.” Schmeidl also argues that “early warning needs to be seen as a precondition to developing political will, and thus initiate (or better inform) reasonable response strategies.” However, existing organisational structures crucial for facilitating and expediting conflict prevention initiatives, suffer from “inertia” due to entrenched political structures, hierarchies and competing interests. The United Nations (UN) is an international body with the authority to facilitate conflict prevention. However, it is constrained by organisational complexities such as sectional political self-interest and the “bureaucratic red tape in large bureaucracies”, thus hampering its ability to swiftly and with the correct mandate, to respond to a call for preventive intervention. Hence the devolution of the responsibilities for the settlement of conflicts to the regional and subregional bodies. Conflicts have also “tended to pay little respect to State borders, proving the necessity for inter-State cooperation.” Because of the regionalisation of conflicts, the case of inter-regional collaboration has become increasingly vital as the “appropriate initial actors in seeking to defuse tensions and resolve local disputes within the region.” To this end, stronger intergovernmental mechanisms to facilitate early recognition of conflict situations and early intervention to prevent eruption or mitigate escalation have to be maintained. African countries, as a result, bear the burden of peace interventions from the African Union (AU) which consists of 53 members, to regional economic communities (RECs) such as Southern African Development Community (SADC), which consists of 14 members. These organisations are attenuated by bureaucratic ineptitude for adaptive behaviour that impact on swift and flexible responses. Nation states with diverse historical backgrounds, different political systems and unequal economic strengths are inclined to have fundamental inequalities in power and influence. Consequently, opposing political values, national interest and competing rationalities underlining their actions become sources of contention and impede the establishment of a common ground. These hurdles breed tensions and suspicion that impact on coordination of effort and information sharing regarding conflict situations. Thus, to surmount these barriers, it is imperative to reconcile competing interests through comprehensive inclusiveness, cooperation and effective collaborative partnerships among various stakeholders, particularly civil society and political decision makers. ‘Preventive action’ must, insists the International Peace Academy (IPA), “not be considered as an expedient product or event, but as a continuous, organic process that necessitates a highest degree of inclusiveness and multisectoral participation in dialogue and peace-building. These aspects should be institutionalised within the inter-regional organisations to establish the culture of common effort for common purpose. In the interest of collective effort and to expand AU’s capacity for conflict prevention, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) was established in 2003. The PSC is defined as “a collective security and early warning arrangement to facilitate timely and efficient response to conflict and crisis situation in Africa. Apparently, the PSC, as an instrument of conflict prevention on the continent, is also aimed at achieving unity of thought in dealing with the threats to peace and stability. In conflict situations, state sovereignty, political desirability and competing goals often render peace processes ineffective due to differences regarding the best course of action. The PSC is regarded as the means to create a platform for shared understanding and common vision regarding the challenge of conflict prevention. Still, to be more effective, it requires a strong collaboration with subregional organisations (e.g. SADC) and multisectoral participation of, for example academics, research institutes, civil society organisations (CSOs), non-governmental (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs). The main thrust should be to create a shared framework for political decision makers to make “collective sense” of the problems on the continent, and be in a position to synchronise efforts to achieve peace and stability. Conversely, the AU and also SADC remain politically diverse organisations. As such, operationalisation of conflict prevention initiatives is likely to encounter obstacles emanating from, as Gina van Schalkwyk indicated, “conflict around political values amongst states in the [sub]region and …disputes on the basis of divergent interpretations [of policies]. This creates a paradox between the necessity of conflict prevention and the divergent national interests. Convergent thinking and creating a shared outlook in the existing organisational frameworks (e.g. SADC) is imperative in order to generate political will and to facilitate improved decision making and implementation of proactive responses in the prevention of conflicts.

PurposeThe purpose with thisstudyis to find out how preschool teachers describe their individual and collaborative work in relation to handling and preventing the children’s conflicts. Further the objective is to discover therole of the individual pedagogue, and the teacher team have in conflict situations. To discover the relevance of the teacher teamin the children’s conflicts,the studywill also evaluate how the collaborative work within the teamcan be made possible. Research methodThe data has been collected by interviews to research how the preschool teachers describe the individual, and collaborative work with conflicts, and how they perceive the work with conflicts.ResultsThe study shows that the preschool teachers find thatit’s important to handlethe conflicts that emerge among the children. Although the collaborative work within the teacher teams varied, the teachers still found it of importance of handlingthe conflicts within the group. According to the preschool teachers, the reason that the collaborative work is crucial is because a lack of organization between the pedagogues, results in inconsistent methods for handling the children’s conflicts. An organized teacher team is also important because the collaboration allow the children to develop and learn from their conflicts.

This is a study of interstate armed conflict prevention. The concept of conflict, armed conflict and conflict prevention is defined and explained in order to be able to investigate if there is any single institution saddled with the responsibility of preventing interstate armed conflict and also to verify if adequate efforts are been put in this area which is of importance to mankind. The relationship between conflict prevention, conflict management and conflict resolution is also discussed so that a proper understanding of interstate armed conflict prevention is made. The latter part of this study is aimed at investigating who has the responsibility to prevent interstate armed conflict and the importance of external actors in conflict prevention. After which this study will then investigate if the efforts so far made are adequate in preventing interstate armed conflict before a discussion and conclusion is made on the findings of this research. Conclusion drawn from this study is of two parts. First it was discovered that no single institution has the responsibility to prevent interstate armed conflict but rather conflict prevention can only be achieved by collective efforts of the international community involving but state and non state actors. Lastly the study showed that quite a lot is being done in this area of conflict prevention but there is room for improvement.

This diploma thesis provides a fact-based examination of the relevance of assumptions concerning the relationship of human insecurity and the emergence of conflict. This is done with a quantitative analysis of cross-country data on human insecurity and conflict during the period of 1990 - 2010. The approach of the thesis steps beyond the prevailing discussions on human security focused on normative judgements on the nature, legitimacy or applicability of the concept. Through a statistical analysis, it challenges the use of uncontested and ungraspable, yet influential, narratives of human security that result in implementation of inadequately informed programs and policies aimed at prevention of conflict by the international community and other actors. The analysis finds that a random set of indicators of human security, rather than human security as a concept, are related to conflict emergence. As a result, the thesis suggests surpassing the preoccupation with the use and application of the concept and instead accentuates inductive approach to formulating evidence-based conflict-prevention programs inspired by the ideas of human security rather than reasoned by the concept of human security. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd) in the Department of History at the University Of Zululand, 2018 / The study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) on peacebuilding and conflict prevention in Nigeria from 2000 to 2014. Established by the government as it transitioned to democratic governance in 2000, IPCR was mandated to identify the root causes of violent conflict in Nigeria through research and provide possible solutions through evidence-informed policy and practice options, and promotion of peacebuilding strategies. Recurring violent conflicts had not only destroyed several lives and property and displaced millions from their homes, but had also retarded the nation’s growth and development. Drawing from extensive sources of qualitative and quantitative data, the study examined the peacebuilding evidence that had worked and did not work for IPCR, and why, through conflict analysis model, theories of change and intervention theory for organizational development. Through historical, evaluative and descriptive analysis, the study found out that the Institute had within fifteen years of its history contributed to the promotion of peace through design and implementation of relevant, effective and efficient peacebuilding programmes for communities, women, youth, media, legislators, public servants, traditional, religious leaders and civil society. These groups of beneficiaries are the study’s target population. There was a strong evidence to argue that the impact of the interventions were mostly in short-term as it had impacted on the mind and work of beneficiaries but not enough to manage the underlying factors behind the recurrence of violent conflict in Nigeria. Nigeria often relapsed into more violence as soon as it gained some respite. Therefore, to achieve its mandate in the long, coherent and sustainable terms, the study suggests that the Institute must scale up its programmes to drastically stem the tide of violence through community peacebuilding. IPCR must make itself more visible at the community level because that was where most violent conflict originated. While the study recognized the fact that, though, the prevalence and complexity of underlying drivers of conflict in Nigeria were far beyond the ambit of one agency, it recommends the Institute to deepen and broaden its partnership and networks for greater peacebuilding impact. Similarly, the government needs to prioritize peace and security by increasing funding and giving sustainable support to IPCR as a democratic institution. Though much of its intervention impact still needed to be studied and learned, the study contends that better and more expanded programmes will make peacebuilding more effective and promote Nigeria’s peace in the long-term.