Wars and conflicts inevitably result in the destruction of the built-environmentand of communities. This paper explores the potential social contributions of architectsto sustainable peace building in post-conflict reconstruction.Recent discussions about the social impact of architecture insist on the benefitsof involving affected populations in the design and implementation of construction andreconstruction projects. Nevertheless, the humanitarian community often disregards thebuilt-environment reconstruction sector, despite the opportunities it holds to bridge the‘humanitarian-development-peace nexus'. Due to a mutual misunderstanding betweenprofessions, the value of involving architects in humanitarian programmes isoverlooked. In light of Jean-Paul Lederach´s theory of conflict transformation, I suggestthat architecture processes can contribute to sustainable peace via the improvement ofrelationships between middle-range and grassroots leaders as well as within members ofthe grassroots level of affected population. This can take place when the(re)construction planning, design and implementation processes properly take thecultural context into consideration and involve the users.Through the analysis of three diverse examples of post-conflict constructions inRwanda, Colombia and Iraq, involving architects, I will show that they respectfullyinsert their projects in the local context. They involve the local communities in thereconstruction process, collaborate with multidisciplinary teams and consider not onlytechnical but also social and psychosociological aspects of housing. Thereby they cancontribute to the relevancy and sustainability of post-conflict reconstruction projects andsupport holistic approaches to peace building.Finally, I will argue for a greater involvement of architects in the humanitarianfield and call for more comprehensive research on their social contributions, the field ofpeace building and post-war reconstruction.

This paper deals with the post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan after the NATO-invasion at the end of 2001 and its success. To ensure the stability of the country, the NATO-led coalition had not only to overthrow the Taliban regime, but also to create basic government structures and help them perform. Reconstruction is of course very common and necessary after conflict, it is however usually operated by strictly civilian measures, e. g. government institutions and humanitarian organisations. In this case, however, such approach was not possible due to volatile security situation, which in some areas grew to such intensity, it essentially became a war-conflict again. This paper focuses on the Herat province and NATO units, especially under ISAF command. It seeks to define the process of post-conflict reconstruction and using the process-tracing method, it then ascertains the extent to which ISAF units dedicated themselves to post-conflict reconstruction and made a positive progress in this area. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

There is a growing awareness among researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners regarding the importance of increased coordination among numerous post-conflict peacebuilding processes and the consequent need for conceptual clarity as a precondition for coordinated, holistic peacebuilding interventions. Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR), and Mine Action are among the very first entry points in post-conflict reconstruction, however, despite sharing similarities they form part of distinct communities of practice, and the nexus between the two remains widely unaddressed academically and in practice. This research aims to address this disconnection. A particular window of opportunity is identified through the difficulties that DDR reintegration generates.  In particular, this study proposes the reintegration of ex-combatants through mine action. The author suggests that DDR can only enable sustainable long-term results if it is part of a wider set of security promotion strategies with devoted attention to community security which is argued to be achieved through mine action. Using a qualitative single case idea analyses the research argues that the adoption of a bottom-up approach provides an alternative understanding of ex-combatant reintegration. The results suggest that Humanitarian Demining, Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) and Victim assistance (VA) can pave the way for reintegration and reconciliation between ex-combatants and local communities in the case of Colombia.

The study investigates the interface between the variables - language attitude and language use in a development context, and attempts to determine the contribution of language to Rwanda's post-conflict development, reconstruction and reconciliation. It examines the language attitudes and language use patterns of 53 students from Rwanda's public universities focusing on how students, who are all Rwandan citizens, view the role of Kinyarwanda, French, English and Kiswahili languages in twelve core areas of post-conflict development. Although post-conflict development is socio-economic, previous historical and political factors affecting Rwanda's violent past play a role as new forms of linguistic categorization - Anglophone and Francophone - emerge which may be used to camouflage previous ethnic categorizations that have had disastrous effects in Rwanda. Further, social categorizations laden with salient features of linguistic identity may influence the implementation of the post-conflict development programmes, and also affect the pace and pattern of reconciliation in Rwanda. Conclusions are based on eclectic sources: quantitative, qualitative, historical and participatory, with patterns of analysis established from secondary and historical data. The study is also grounded in the Communication Accommodation Theory that rests on issues of divergence and convergence during interaction where emerging language identities dovetail with language attitudes and language use, resulting in an interface that influences the implementation of Rwanda's post-conflict development programmes. Additionally, it is argued that the African languages such as Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili, should be considered as vehicles for Rwanda's post-conflict development, although Kinyarwanda, the home language, has in the past really not served an intranational unifying function. On the other hand, Kiswahili, unlike Kinyarwanda, has no divisive myths and identities that would inhibit post-conflict development; it is an important language in the East and Central African region where post-conflict Rwanda will play a positive and active role, and would be a language to be positively developed. / African Languages / D.Litt et Phil. (African Languages)

One of the greatest post-conflict problems in South Sudan, which has emerged as a threat to the nation’s security, has been the deadly clashes between tribes during cattle raids. This thesis examines why cattle raiding shifted from a relatively non-violent rite of passage to the primary manifestation of tribal conflict in South Sudan, and whether it is possible to reverse this shift. This thesis proposes a unique approach to the topic by analyzing two underlying causes: insecurity in Jonglei State and a breakdown of traditional governance structures – as well as how their combination has led to the shift. This thesis focuses on a case study of Jonglei State, as it has experienced the largest number of instances of conflict attributed to cattle raiding in South Sudan. Furthermore, current attempts to reduce conflict through increased security and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs have failed as they only address problems of insecurity. I will be comparing two periods of cattle raiding in Jonglei: the current conflict from 2009 until the present, and a historical review of cattle raids focusing on governance of the raids. The review will not cover any specific time period as it aims to identify what aspects of the tradition contributed to a reduced scale of violence before the shift in 2009. Insecurity has caused the increase in clashes, while disconnections to traditions have caused the increase in violence. To address these problems, traditional leadership structures and the de facto rules that structured raids must be re-established in order to produce a long-term solution.

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on local ownership in UN peacebuilding. Advocates of local ownership assert that it boosts the legitimacy and sustainability of UN peacebuilding by helping to preserve the principles of self- determination and non-imposition of externally-conceived solutions onto post-conflict countries in an activity that can contravene them. However, while the UN perceives local ownership as enabling it to act in accordance with these principles, it also perceives local ownership to imperil the achievement of its operational goals, thus bringing its normative and operational objectives into conflict. This thesis evaluates the UN’s discourse, understandings, and operationalizations of local ownership in peacebuilding. Drawing on examples from the UN peace operation in DR Congo, it shows that despite the UN’s regular invocation of local ownership discourse, it operationalizes ownership in restrictive and selective ways that are intended to protect the achievement of operational goals but that consequently limit self-determination and increase external imposition on the host country. This gap between the rhetoric and reality of ownership suggests that the UN uses local ownership primarily as a discursive tool for legitimation, one intended to reconcile the organization’s normative and operational imperatives. However, because its actions do not match its rhetoric, the UN’s attempts to generate legitimacy through discourse appear to fall flat, particularly in the eyes of local actors. Moreover, because of contradictions in the ways that the UN operationalizes local ownership, it not only deepens the curtailment of self-determination and the degree of external imposition, it also undercuts its ability to realize the very operational goals it is trying to protect. Ultimately, because it is a contradictory and contested concept, local ownership fails to eliminate or ‘fix’ the trade-offs the UN faces in peacebuilding, suggesting that the UN must instead accept them and incorporate them into its goals and expectations.

L’apaisement de l’antagonisme Est-Ouest suite à la chute du Mur de Berlin, modifie l’équilibre stratégique mondial et suscite le réveil de conflits dits « gelés ». Dans ce contexte, les Etats européens saisissent la nécessité de se doter d’un cadre politico-stratégique commun (PESC) afin de contribuer au maintien de la paix et de la sécurité internationales. Avec la mise en place de la PESC, puis d’une dimension opérationnelle à son action extérieure (PSDC), l’UE ambitionne à devenir un acteur stratégique majeur pour la gestion des crises. Le développement de capacités « non-militaires » – civiles – de la PSDC, dédiées à la conduite d’activités de reconstruction post-conflit, constitue une véritable valeur ajoutée. Malgré la jeunesse de sa PSDC, l’UE représente indéniablement une force positive pour la sécurité coopérative aux côtés des autres acteurs de la sécurité. Les défis actuels appellent néanmoins à une réactualisation de la stratégie sécuritaire européenne. / The end of the Cold War modified the fragile security equilibrium established for over fifty years, bringing frozen conflicts to the forefront of the international security environment. Confronted with this new reality, EU member states seized the necessity of developing a common political and strategic framework (CFSP), in order to help maintain peace and international security. The establishment of the CFSP and of an operational dimension to its external action (CSDP), illustrate the EU’s ambition to becoming a key strategic player in crisis management. By developing civilian capabilities within its CSDP, destined for post-conflict reconstruction activities, the EU aims at providing a real added value to modern crisis management. Despite the insufficiencies of its newly created CSDP, the EU positively contributes to cooperative security alongside other security actors. Current security challenges nevertheless require an updating of its strategy.

One of the greatest post-conflict problems in South Sudan, which has emerged as a threat to the nation’s security, has been the deadly clashes between tribes during cattle raids. This thesis examines why cattle raiding shifted from a relatively non-violent rite of passage to the primary manifestation of tribal conflict in South Sudan, and whether it is possible to reverse this shift. This thesis proposes a unique approach to the topic by analyzing two underlying causes: insecurity in Jonglei State and a breakdown of traditional governance structures – as well as how their combination has led to the shift. This thesis focuses on a case study of Jonglei State, as it has experienced the largest number of instances of conflict attributed to cattle raiding in South Sudan. Furthermore, current attempts to reduce conflict through increased security and disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs have failed as they only address problems of insecurity. I will be comparing two periods of cattle raiding in Jonglei: the current conflict from 2009 until the present, and a historical review of cattle raids focusing on governance of the raids. The review will not cover any specific time period as it aims to identify what aspects of the tradition contributed to a reduced scale of violence before the shift in 2009. Insecurity has caused the increase in clashes, while disconnections to traditions have caused the increase in violence. To address these problems, traditional leadership structures and the de facto rules that structured raids must be re-established in order to produce a long-term solution.

This case study investigates gender-sensitive institutional reforms in post-war Liberia. It applies key concepts developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State to explore the extent to which the emergent theory of state feminism might be applicable to countries outside of the West. Preliminary findings suggest that Liberia is a feminist state insofar as both the women’s machinery and the Sirleaf Administration are allied with feminist and women’s movement actors outside the state, and that they grant these actors access to policymaking fora. Policy content also appears to reflect many of the goals identified by women’s movement actors. However, given the lack of state capacity and the degree of state penetration by international organizations, it is difficult to determine the drivers of ostensibly state-led gender equity initiatives in the country. Because multi-level governance is the norm in areas where the capacity of the state is severely circumscribed, this research introduces the concept of “supra-state feminism” to demonstrate the major limitation of state feminist theory in Liberia. This notion of feminist policy transfer in areas of limited statehood adds to the comparative literature on engendering political transitions in sub-Saharan Africa.

The study investigates the interface between the variables - language attitude and language use in a development context, and attempts to determine the contribution of language to Rwanda's post-conflict development, reconstruction and reconciliation. It examines the language attitudes and language use patterns of 53 students from Rwanda's public universities focusing on how students, who are all Rwandan citizens, view the role of Kinyarwanda, French, English and Kiswahili languages in twelve core areas of post-conflict development. Although post-conflict development is socio-economic, previous historical and political factors affecting Rwanda's violent past play a role as new forms of linguistic categorization - Anglophone and Francophone - emerge which may be used to camouflage previous ethnic categorizations that have had disastrous effects in Rwanda. Further, social categorizations laden with salient features of linguistic identity may influence the implementation of the post-conflict development programmes, and also affect the pace and pattern of reconciliation in Rwanda. Conclusions are based on eclectic sources: quantitative, qualitative, historical and participatory, with patterns of analysis established from secondary and historical data. The study is also grounded in the Communication Accommodation Theory that rests on issues of divergence and convergence during interaction where emerging language identities dovetail with language attitudes and language use, resulting in an interface that influences the implementation of Rwanda's post-conflict development programmes. Additionally, it is argued that the African languages such as Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili, should be considered as vehicles for Rwanda's post-conflict development, although Kinyarwanda, the home language, has in the past really not served an intranational unifying function. On the other hand, Kiswahili, unlike Kinyarwanda, has no divisive myths and identities that would inhibit post-conflict development; it is an important language in the East and Central African region where post-conflict Rwanda will play a positive and active role, and would be a language to be positively developed. / African Languages / D.Litt et Phil. (African Languages)