Synopses & Reviews
More and more, mediators and conflict resolution professionals are traveling the world to resolve ethnic, religious, political, economic, and organizational conflicts. Often these professionals find themselves moving quickly into exotic settings of apparently intractable and often violent conflict. However, the training and experience they've gained on the home front do not always provide sufficient guidance and assure success in the more complex arena of international conflict resolution.
This much-needed handbook offers conflict resolution professionals working (or planning to work) in foreign countries a critical, step-by-step guide for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous disputes in other nations. The editors, John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner, have gathered a stellar panel of seasoned experts who illustrate how to approach international peacebuilding with effective actions and approaches gained through experience that will contribute ultimately to a more positive outcome. Based on the experience of the contributors— work as global peace brokers, the book includes a wide array of guidelines, pragmatic approaches, and models of constructive, culturally appropriate ways to respond to conflict.
A Handbook of International Peacebuilding will go a long way to address the vital questions that international conflict resolution professionals need answered, including:
- How do I find out what's really going on in an unfamiliar culture with long-standing historical and social context?
- How can I understand the way they're thinking?
- What is an appropriate time frame?
- What is the role of the local government and other indigenous institutions?
- How can I identify and assess the various principals?
- How can I accommodate the local mores, ethics, and traditions?
This indispensable handbook provides the framework, techniques, range of potential interventions, and realistic guidelines for building and bringing to closure a peaceful process— from the first phone call to the last plane home—that could take place anywhere in the world.
Synopsis
The Resource for Resolving International Conflicts"The field of international peacebuilding has long lacked a practical guide to the very real challenges that peacebuilders face. Here it is at last— clear, operational, wise advice from highly experienced leaders in the field. This is required reading for anyone who hopes to make a difference in building global peace." — William Ury, author, The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop
"A Handbook of International Peacebuilding, so full of practical wisdom on every page, belongs by the phone and in the carry-on bag of every peacebuilder, novice and veteran alike." —Cynthia Sampson, president, Peace Discovery Initiatives
"This book collects the wisdom of peacebuilding practitioners and scholars across the world. The authors convey both the dangers of misguided interventions in conflict-ridden settings and the transformative possibilities of work that is conducted with intelligence, respect, patience, and political savvy. A Handbook of International Peacebuilding should become a constant companion for anyone committed to appropriate involvement in conflict resolution." —B. Stephen Toben, vice president, Flora Family Foundation
Synopsis
This much-needed handbook offers conflict resolution professionals working (or planning to work) in foreign countries a critical, step-by-step guide for dealing with difficult and potentially dangerous disputes in other nations. The editors, John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner, have gathered a stellar panel of seasoned experts who illustrate how to approach international peacebuilding with effective actions and approaches gained through experience that will contribute ultimately to a more positive outcome. Based on the experience of the contributors-- work as global peace brokers, the book includes a wide array of guidelines, pragmatic approaches, and models of constructive, culturally appropriate ways to respond to conflict.
Synopsis
"This book collects the wisdom of peacebuilding practitioners and scholars across the world. The authors convey both the dangers of misguided interventions in conflict-ridden settings and the transformative possibilities of work that is conducted with intelligence, respect, patience, and political savvy. "A Handbook of International Peacebuilding" should become a constant companion for anyone committed to appropriate involvement in conflict resolution." — B. Stephen Toben, vice president, Flora Family Foundation
About the Author
John Paul Lederach is professor of international peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame and a Distinguished Scholar at Eastern Mennonite University's Conflict Transformation Program.
Janice Moomaw Jenner is the director of the Institute for Justice and Peacebuilding, the practice arm of the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.
Introduction: I Just Got a Call (John Paul Lederach).
Part I: The Invitation: Get a Sense of the Big Picture.
1. Who Is Calling? (Sue K. Williams).
2. What Do They Want Me to Do? (Susan Collin Marks and John Marks).
3. Who Else Is Working There? (Louise Diamond).
4. Where Do I Fit In? (John Paul Lederach).
Part II: The Context: The Geography of Protracted Conflict.
5. How Much Do I Need to Know? (Christopher Mitchell).
6. How Do I Get Good Information in a Short Time? (Heidi Burgess and Guy Burgess).
7. What Do I Need to Know About Culture? A Researcher Says . . . (Kevin Avruch).
8. What Do I Need to Know About Culture? Practitioners Suggest . . . (Peter Woodrow and Christopher Moore).
9. What Do I Need to Know About Religion and Conflict? (Marc Gopin).
10. Is It Safe? Lessons from the Humanitarian Aid Community (Larissa A. Fast).
11. Is It Safe? Practitioner Advice (Janice Moomaw Jenner and Dekha Ibrahim Abdi).
Part III: So Are You Coming to Help Us? Advice from the Ground.
12. A View from Northern Ireland (Mari Fitzduff).
13. A View from the Balkans (Katarina Kruhonja).
14. A View from the Middle East (Zoughbi Elias Zoughbi).
15. A View from West Africa (Sam Gbaydee Doe and Emmanuel Habuka Bombande).
Part IV: Intervention Matters: From Money to Ethics.
16. Who Pays? Money Matters from a Practitioner's Perspective (Bernard Mayer).
17. Providing Resources for Peace: Money Matters from a Funder's Perspective (John Tirman).
18. To Whom Am I Accountable? (Howard Zehr and Clement M. Aapengnuo).
19. Is This the Right Thing to Do? A Practical Framework for Ethical Decisions (Wallace Warfield).
20. Can My Good Intentions Make Things Worse? Lessons for Peacebuilding from the Field of International Humanitarian Aid (Mary B. Anderson).
21. How Can I Evaluate My Work? (Harry Mika).
Part V: The Decision.
22. Do I Go? (Ronald S. Kraybill).
23. How Long Will It Take? (John Paul Lederach).
24. How Will I Sustain Myself? (Amy C. Potter, with Ronald S. Kraybill, Louise Diamond, and Joe Campbell).
Part VI: Good Advice from Gray Hair Hard Won.
25. Embody Peace (Hizkias Assefa).
26. Commit to People, and Commit to Time (Harold H. Saunders).
27. Practice Love and Sustain Hope (Elise Boulding).
28. The Simplicity of Peacebuilding: An Interview with Adam Curle (John Paul Lederach, Muzna Al-Masri, and Rita Ann Litwiller).
Part VII: Conclusions and Summary.
29. So What Have We Learned? (John Paul Lederach and Janice Moomaw Jenner).
Bibliography.
About the Editors.
Index.