For centuries, women's opinion on matters of peace building were largely ignored. The importance of women's participation in peacebuilding cannot be better expressed than in the United Nations Security Council's Resolution 1325 of 2000. This resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the council, calls for the broad participation of women in peace buildlng and post conflict reconstruction. The primary data aspect of this study was conducted with a diverse group of women based in Durban . Ten women where interviewed with the aim of gathering data about their experiences of peace buildlng and their vision of peace. They viewed their approaches as often distinct from men and believed that the significance of their peace buildlng work is not adequately recognized. What these ten women have in common is courage, tenacity and a long term vision of a world in peace. They view the attainment of peace and a return to normality as everyone's ' responsibility and everyone's concern. Women, men, politicians and religious and civic organizations should be seen as working toqether in buildlng peace. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

Abstract This senior thesis is a study of international funding bodies in the case of Northern Ireland peace process. I examine the role of the European Union PEACE Fund and International Fund for Ireland. Particularly, I focus on creating, structuring, and maintaining these funds and their impact the local community. In conclusion, I find there are several recommendations for the formation and sustaining of international economic and political support from the Northern Irish case that can be applied in future cases. This includes utilizing multiple strategies that adjust to the needs of the community and creating networks for support and collaboration.

<p> Can individual differences moderate the deleterious effects of nationalistic attitudes on post-conflict peacemaking? In this work we investigate the relationship between national identification and attitudes toward reconciliation as moderated by dispositional and situational empathy. We hypothesize that the relationship between the socio-ideological concept of national identity and conciliatory attitudes is moderated by an individual difference variable unrelated to group processes, dispositional empathy, as well as by state-induced empathy. We tested this hypothesis in the Balkans, which have been the theatre of two wars in the 1990s, using samples of the Serbian population, and in the U.S., which has engaged in a drone war victimizing the Pakistani people. Study 1 results demonstrate the negative impact of national identification on attitudes toward reconciliation and reveal a moderating role of trait-level perspective-taking (a key aspect of empathy) in the relationship between national identification and conciliatory attitudes. Study 2 results confirm the effects of dispositional empathy and national identification on attitudes facilitating reconciliation. However, moderating effects of trait-empathy are absent and the state-empathy induction yields results that are inconsistent with those dispositional empathy effects found in Study 1.</p>

With the dawn of the modern era and the advancement of globalization in all forms and domains, interfaith dialogue and reconciliation have become an essential enterprise in our diverse and diversifying world. In this emerging and extensive enterprise, ecumenical engagement and interdenominational reconciliation are of great importance, for they foster cross-communal tolerance and harmony, mitigate sectarian differences, curb exclusionary rhetoric and discriminatory policies, and cultivate a conciliatory and constructive religious environment. This study focuses on institutional efforts to advance Islamic ecumenism in recent decades and examines Iran’s state-backed World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought aka Tehran’s Ecumenical Society (TES). It aims to investigate the context and forces that led to the formation and evolution of this ecumenical organization, analyze its structure, methodology, strategy, and performance across the past three decades, explore its negotiation with Iranian domestic and regional policies, and discuss the array of shortcomings and proposals and possibilities to tackle them. Drawing on the vast literature of interfaith and ecumenical studies, statecraft, foreign policy, and organizational studies, and by examining TES’s available documents and publications, this dissertation conducts multidisciplinary research on the most important Islamic ecumenical institution, contributing to the fields of faith-based organizations, Middle East politics, Islamic studies, and interfaith relations. This work demonstrates the many ways a government-led ecumenical society inevitably gets instrumentalized to advance the state’s ideology and interests at home and abroad. The politicized manipulation of the ecumenical body, strategy, and initiatives by a Shi’ite theocracy equipped with an Islamic ideology and an aim for regional supremacy undermines its capacity to foster an inclusive ecology, develop critical and rigorous theoretical literature, and devise innovative and effective initiatives. / Religion

abstract: From 1973 to 1984 the people of Uruguay lived under a repressive military dictatorship. During that time, the Uruguayan government violated the Human Rights of its opponents and critics through prolonged imprisonment in inhumane conditions without trial, physical and psychological torture, disappearance, and a negation of freedom of speech, thought and congregation. In this project, I argue that these violations of Human Rights committed by the military dictatorship added urgency to the rethinking by religious individuals of the Uruguayan model of secularism, the laïcité, and the role that their theology required them to play in the "secular" world. Influenced by the Liberation Theology movement, Catholic and Protestant leaders simultaneously made use of and challenged the secularization model in order to carve a space for themselves in the struggle for the protection of Human Rights. Furthermore, I will argue that due to the Uruguayan system of partitocracy, which privileges political parties as the main voices in public matters, Uruguay still carries this history of Human Rights violations on its back. Had alternative views been heard in the public sphere, this thorny history might have been dealt with in a fairer manner. Thus, I call for further exploration of the "intelligent laïcité" model, which might ensure true democratic participation in the public sphere. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Religious Studies 2015

abstract: Why and when do political actors use violence? This project answers these questions by exploring the dynamics of the interactions between state authorities and political dissidents. Both the state and the dissidents face the dilemma of using violence to achieve their political goals. While structural factors influence state violence and dissident violence, I contend that we need to examine how the dynamics of the state-dissident interactions shape these actors’ political behavior. This project first asks if nonviolent methods of resistance are effective--and perhaps even more successful than violent methods--why do opposition movements ever resort to violence? I argue that the efficacy of nonviolent resistance changes over time. When the likelihood of demobilization increases, dissident movements doubt the effectiveness of nonviolent resistance and weigh violence as an alternative tactic. The first chapter of this dissertation shows that the failure in expanding the size of a movement over several periods provides increases the risk of demobilization, and so dissident violence. I also argue while the expansion of the movement decreases the risk of dissident violence, a sudden and large expansion in the size of the movement overburdens its monitoring and sanctioning capacities, which raises the risk of dissident violence. These arguments are supported empirically using two different datasets. In the second theoretical part of this project, I examine the effects of foreign interventions on the dynamics of state repression and dissident violence. I find that the diplomatic statements and efforts such as disapproving state behavior, asking for political reform, and threatening to impose economic sanctions and to deploy military forces either did not have a significant effect, or increased state repression and decreased state concession during the Arab Spring. Finally, the last part of this project contributes to the literature on the formal modeling of dissent-repression by developing a recursive model of political violence dynamics. In addition to addressing several drawbacks in the literature, this model endogenizes the mobilization and demobilization of the movement and explains how these changes affect dissident violence. Due to the complexity of the developed mathematical model, I use a computational model to find the optimal outcomes. This computational model also can be used for simulating the state’s and the dissidents’ behavior under different scenarios. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Political Science 2018

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The United Nations has become progressively involved in peacebuilding activities in post-conflict countries over the last two decades. A general formula has emerged for the design of these interventions which includes ceasefire, disarmament and demobilization and democratic elections. The key component to these missions is the democratic transition, which is presumed to increase stability in the country. The current transition paradigm assumes that the participation of local leadership in the process will result in their transition to democratic leaders. Previous research primarily focused on the impact of the international community on the transition, while little attention is given to the role of the local leadership. This study evaluated the current transition model in order determine its applicability. The study used embedded multi-case study analysis to evaluate the role of the local leadership in three case countries: Cambodia, Liberia and Burundi. The threes cases demonstrated that the local leadership had significant impact on each component of the transition and were in fact directing the process. Furthermore, the outcomes of the transition were predictable based on the behavior of the local leadership throughout the phases of the conflict and peace process. The results of the analyses were utilized to correct the post-conflict transition model. The corrected model highlights the significant impact that the local leadership has on each component of the process and the influence of the context in which the leadership is operating. The corrected model was applied to three secondary cases in order to verify its general applicability. The results of this study will assist policymakers in the improved design and implementation of post-conflict interventions / acase@tulane.edu

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been at war for decades. Since its self rule in 1960, the country has been dealing with civil war, and has the largest number of refugees from Africa to the United States. Mineral wise it is the richest country in Africa, and yet it is the poorest in the standard of living. In this dissertation, I sought to research the lived experiences of Congolese women refugees settled in Indianapolis, Indiana. The purpose of this study was to explore, through their own voices, the challenges these women face as they resettle in a new country, with new people, and a new culture. These women are expected to be self-reliant within three months (90 days) with the help of resettlement agencies. A priority is that they are expected to learn a new language to enable them to move on to a life on their own. This is a challenge for these women who never had a formal education. Some of the challenges they face are the language barrier, living in a new country, new people, new environment, and the generational gap. Their challenge is to overcome these barriers. The study aims to share the women's voices firsthand. From the findings, awareness will be brought to the inefficiencies of the ninety day period of service from the resettlement agencies. Another finding is that the women refugees were not comfortable with the idea of being resettled in the United States. An additional finding is that the research participants condemned the separation that took place in the family when some of them were resettled in the US and some were left in Africa.