The focus of civil resistance movements on ousting rightwing populist leaders is counterproductive because it plays into narratives of “us vs. them” and hampers efforts to gain broad-based support by polarizing supporters and detractors of rightwing populism.
When governments are less corrupt and have high levels of women’s participation, they are better able to promote and support peacebuilding.
Women play a crucial role in building peace at the grassroots level in Myanmar, even if they are not represented adequately in the formal peace talks.
More militarized UN peacekeeping mandates do not address the root causes of conflict and can contribute to cycles of violence and terrorist recruitment.
People care about deaths in war, whether the killing of their own soldiers or the killing of foreign civilians, which affects their support for military action.
Inside this issue, you will find analysis of research highlighting the difference between politicians and experts when it comes to their perceptions of how and why conflict develops over time. Next, we follow an argument on why peace education should step back from its broad focus and return instead to its emphasis on the prevention of war and violence. The third analysis looks at civilian self-protection strategies in the Democratic Republic of Congo and why civilians should be treated as agents, rather than as passive recipients, of their own protection. We then then turn to insights from Nepal and gain a closer understanding of how nonviolent resistance might be used as a tool for confronting war, not only as a tool for challenging injustice. Finally, we analyze a study on public opinion polling on the use of military force and how the public supports diplomacy over war when given the option.
In public opinion polling, question framing strongly influences people’s support for the use of military force.
There are often strategic reasons for conflict parties—even armed groups—to shift to nonviolent forms of resistance.
Civilians use a range of strategies to protect themselves during armed conflict and should be treated as agents, rather than as passive recipients, of their own protection.
One of the valuable ways peace educators can use history as a tool to problematize war is to highlight the common “war-centered” narratives used to frame historical events.