An average of one Iraqi civilian was killed at a coalition checkpoint each day between 2006 and 2007.
Issue 3
The city of Tuzla was able to resist exclusionary nationalist forces during the Bosnian War due to its identity formation from 1878 to 1990 as a “multi-ethnic working class society with strong anti-fascist, anti-nationalist ideals.”
The UN's heavy reliance on security contractors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) results in more money for institutions and groups that are perceived as corrupt and/or sources of insecurity for many Congolese people.
In Bougainville and Timor-Leste, uncivil society groups were composed of ex-combatants and/or marginalized communities who felt that they were excluded from the peace and reconciliation process.
Traditional governance, including local chiefs, kings, or conflict resolution mechanisms, can play a powerful role in maintaining peace if it is integrated with the public administration of the state (a scenario called "institutional hybridity").
In this issue, we examine a set of articles with a great deal of regional diversity — two articles focus on peacebuilding or peacekeeping in Africa, one looks at resistance to exclusionary nationalism in Bosnia (Europe), another explores “uncivil society” in Bougainville and Timor-Leste (Asia-Pacific), and, finally, one considers military checkpoints in Iraq (Middle East). These articles heighten our awareness of the complexities and challenges involved in peacebuilding after war. All the more reason to avoid war in the first place.
Inside this issue, you will find analysis of research highlighting the importance of one of the Digest’s primary goals: making academic research more accessible and relevant to those beyond the academic community. Four additional analyses look at the relationship between people’s beliefs on masculinity and honor, on the one hand, and their attitudes towards aggressive policies and war, on the other; the complex attitudes of people in a post-conflict setting "after the smoke clears" by looking at how different conflict narratives contribute to reconciliation; how to influence nonstate actors to comply with humanitarian norms, laws, and treaties; and, lastly, we analyze a study examining the methods by which liberal democracies create and sustain militarism and hence enable war.
Liberal democracies often justify their reliance on military force as necessary to maintaining freedom, as well as frame security threats in terms of the dangers posed to the everyday lives of regular people, such that individuals will be willing to give up some freedom for personal security.
Signing a commitment banning landmines appears to influence armed nonstate actors (ANSAs) away from the use of landmines, suggesting that deeds of commitment can influence ANSAs’ behavior.
Conflict narratives emphasizing blame or deflection can, counterintuitively, contribute to more conciliatory attitudes, especially if individuals have an opportunity to discuss them with others they trust.