This is a dissertation that examines peace. In particular this dissertation will explore the paradox of peace on the island of Cyprus, a paradox that has continued to challenge both international and local peace activists in their pursuits to build peace. For how does one build peace when it seems that peace already exists? Yet, how can peace truly exist within the context of a stalemated, decades-old protracted ethnic conflict on a politically and ethnically divided island? The paradox of the Cyprus conflict being deemed a peaceful conflict only begins to touch upon the problems and limitations inherent in building peace on the island. This dissertation explores what those problems are through the eyes of local peacebuilders, and argues for a more anthropologically informed peace research in order to help surpass peacebuilding limitations in Cyprus and in other post-conflict zones around the world. This dissertation explores how peacebuilding theories and methodologies in Cyprus have and have not shifted within the wake of the opening of the Green Line and the subsequent sociopolitical changes on the island. It explores the changes in methods and theories of peacebuilding on the island by focusing on the activities and perspectives of local Cypriots involved in peacebuilding. In particular this dissertation describes the historical context in which bicommunal peacebuilding came about as a strategy; it explores the principles and goals that defined the particular kind of peacebuilding that emerged in Cyprus; it describes who was involved in the local world of peacebuilding; and it explores the multiple changes to the island that have also affected and changed the nature of peacebuilding – and it does so particularly through trying to understand how local peacebuilders have experienced and conceptualized those changes. Through the extended interviews and observations of the networks and activities of peacebuilding that I conducted in Nicosia, I argue that we can learn a great deal about the complex ways that peacebuilding is experienced by the intervened, and that those experiences can help contribute to the transformation of the doing of peacebuilding in the future.

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Yes / “Gender Day” is an obligatory annual learning event for all first-year undergraduate and Masters students in the Department of Peace Studies (University of Bradford, England), designed as a foundational experience for a multicultural student body to develop gender analytical skills. The curriculum uses three carefully sequenced elements. The first session, based on peer-facilitated small-group discussion of participants’ lived knowledge of gender norms, engages the “heart” - emotion and personal experience. The second, a lecture on academic concepts around sex, gender and sexuality and their inter-relationship, engages the “head”. The third, a workshop demonstrating the practical techniques of applying gender analysis to a policy or intellectual problem in politics, international relations, and peace/conflict studies, engages their “hands”. This article analyzes why and how Gender Day was devised and argues that its positive gender-mainstreaming impact on students and the Department results from the pedagogical philosophy underpinning its three, integrated elements and the opportunity offered by a heterogeneous student cohort

<p>Pastoralists (nomadic herders) live throughout the arid and semi-arid areas of Kenya, where they have historically been marginalized, with little development and security. Continuing traditions of cattle rustling and ethnic violence present significant barriers to development, and external peacebuilding efforts achieve limited results in such conflicts. A uniquely pastoralist grassroots peacebuilding process emerged to address pastoralist conflict, which generated sustainable peace in Laikipia yet was never studied. A review of extant literature conducted for this dissertation led to the conclusion that the peacebuilding field does not sufficiently study such grassroots volunteer peacebuilding, and support for such efforts is hampered by Western teleological approaches that have limited capacity to deal with emergence and complexity. This dissertation addresses these deficiencies by enhancing understanding and utilization of emergent peacebuilding in Kenya?s pastoralist cultures. In this study, Kenya Pastoralist Network and Mediators Beyond Borders?Kenya Initiative co-researchers collaboratively developed a participatory action research (PAR) project focused on a 2009 peacebuilding effort known as the Laikipia Peace Caravan (LPC). The dissertation explored how effective and sustainable grassroots peacebuilding emerges in pastoralist cultures. The PAR approach was utilized to support pastoralists in empowering themselves regarding the ways in which their neotraditional peacebuilding works, and how it can become more sustainable. Multi-ethnic co-researchers engaged in study design, data collection, inquiry and qualitative analysis, conducting semistructured multilingual interviews with 49 diverse Laikipia community members, officials and LPC professionals. Archival research was collected from a range of sources. This study found that effective and sustainable pastoralist peacebuilding emerged from expansive utilization of diverse pastoralist social networks, cycles of learning and adaptation, integration of practical wisdom and cultural sensitivities, and systemic transformation of transactional, attitudinal and structural societal domains through dialogue processes, modeling and grassroots self-organization. The dissertation outlines and provides evidence for a novel conceptual framework, emergent peacebuilding design, which involves a multidimensional systemic approach to peacebuilding that emerges from social networks, embraces diversity and complexity, is inclusive of traditional methods, and adapts as necessary to meet changes in context and process.

<p> The world is becoming more interdependent. Governments and diplomats negotiate across cultures every day. Some argue that negotiators are professionals and share the common diplomatic culture, therefore their cultural backgrounds are irrelevant to international negotiation and in result culture has no significant influence on the process. The author argues that culture does matter and it could influence the different negotiation elements: individuals, process, and outcome &mdash; the larger the cultural gap between the parties, the larger the cultural influence. To substantiate his argument, the author uses a case-study analysis of the Jordanian-Israeli peace negotiation that led to the 1994 peace treaty. The author conducted eight semi-structured interviews with negotiators from the two countries who actively participated in the negotiation &mdash; including the heads of the two delegations. From this work, the author concludes that culture in the Jordanian-Israeli negotiation was manifested, and influenced the negotiators, the process, and the outcome in six different ways &mdash; culture was an enabler.</p>

<p> The Republic of Ghana is the legacy of the colonial amalgam of multiple, and previously distinct, ethnic homelands. The Trans-Volta Togoland became the Volta Region of Ghana following a Plebiscite in 1956. The dominant ethnic group in this region; the Ewe, has long maintained a claim of neglect of the Volta Region and the marginalization of its people in this postcolonial state. Protests in the street and at media houses ensued against the State. This qualitative case study explores the undercurrents of this conflict in the context of the Ewe group&rsquo;s identity and their experiences of neglect and marginalization in the postcolonial state. The main objective of the study was to understand why the Ewe group has not revolted despite the perceptions of deprivation. This study focused on the Ewe group in the Volta Region of Ghana a as sub-colonial construct that has managed its perceptions of deprivation without revolting against the host State.</p>

This dissertation examines the methods, influence, and effectiveness of clergy peacebuilders in Northern Ireland during the violent conflict known as "The Troubles," through the signing of the peace agreement and the first decade post-agreement. Twenty-one clergy, all committed to ameliorating the conflict, were interviewed once for approximately ninety minutes regarding their theological motivations, activism efforts, constraints, and perceived effectiveness. Interviewees include eight Methodist, eight Church of Ireland, three Roman Catholic, one Presbyterian, one ecumenical order, and one evangelical parachurch clergy. Analysis of the interviews revealed strong theological similarities of inclusivity and dedication to living one's beliefs despite denominational differences; however, clergy expressed a range of views on Manichaeism and pacifism/Just War theory. They also experienced a range of direct and indirect violence. These factors increased their perceived risk of activism and shaped their ministerial approach and effectiveness. The context of conflict, which predisposes parishioners to prefer certain leadership styles, and clergy access to expert, referent, and legitimate power also affected clergy influence and activism. The study argues that, as a whole, activist clergy possess a particularly favorable platform for successful outgroup exposure due to high group salience and boundary de-emphasis. Typical clergy peacebuilding activities influence individuals, structures, and communities. Also, clergy influence through indirect outgroup contact, ripple effects, and synergism, decreases hostility and increases the possibilities of achieving peace. Clergy use of "soft power" lets them operate in a democratic deficit, helps build trust, improves the quality of negotiations and agreements, ameliorates identity conflict, and enhances stability. This study, the first conducted among a range of activist clergy in Northern Ireland, concludes that in order to optimize peace efforts, secular interest groups should cooperate with clergy peacebuilders. Moreover, denominations and seminaries should consciously augment clergy expert, referent, and legitimate power and reduce clergy fears of perceived professional risk resulting from activism. The thesis adds to Peace/Conflict studies by providing in-depth insight into the various capabilities, constraints, and the significance of civil society/religious peacebuilders.

Zambia faces extensive conflict and violence of both direct and structural types. The qualitative and quantitative indices provided by the Global Peace Index (GPI), the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gender Disparity Index (GDI) confirm that Zambia needs a control shift permeated with tools of peacefulness that will move the country from a culture of violence to a culture of peace and non-violence. The focus of the dissertation is one way of trying to build sustainable peace in the world and in particular Zambia by creating structures within government circles, specifically by establishing a Ministry of Peace that will work to transcend violent conflicts while working alongside a Peace Education Commission (PEC), Peace Research Commission (PRC) and an independent Conflict Resolution and Mediation Commission (CRMC). The aim of such a ministry is to help change the mindset of the people of Zambia from a culture of violence towards to a culture of peace and non-violence. The dissertation discusses possible objections to a Ministry of Peace and proposes a strategic plan for establishing a Ministry of Peace in Zambia. Two focus groups were selected to provide a very small sample of Zambians the opportunity to comment on the idea of establishing a Ministry of Peace in Zambia. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.

The study aims to understand the response of Christian AIDS organisations to HIV/AIDS related conflicts in Bulawayo-Zimbabwe. Many criticisms have been levelled against these organisations mainly because of their delayed, uninformed and reluctant response to HIV/AIDS issues. The intent of this research is not to criticize but to improve the effectiveness of organisations in responding to conflicts related to HIV/AIDS by suggesting possible responses or interventions. Building on conflict resolution theories, the research tried to explore the issues of HIV/AIDS motivated conflict, explain their causes, their form and nature and identified them among the people living with HIV/AIDS in Bulawayo using the focus group technique. Data was also collected from support group supervisors and organisations. The results suggest that there is a possible link between HIV/AIDS and interpersonal conflict and that HIV/AIDS conflict do occur in Bulawayo and they take many forms. People living with HIV/AIDS are the most affected because they suffer from both the disease and the damage to relationships. It still needs to be proved how destabilisation of relationships contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Bulawayo. The results also suggest that there is no formidable response by organisations to HIV/AIDS related conflicts because they refer cases to other institutions. The paper also identifies many issues hindering the resolution of conflicts and some of them include: lack of knowledge on resolution, lack of awareness and lack of relevant skills among many. The study suggests that conflict resolution should be mainstreamed into HIV/AIDS intervention measures in of Faith-based organisations in Bulawayo. However, awareness and further studies of HIV/AIDS related conflicts are needed if meaningful intervention is to be achieved. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.