Archive: June, 2011
Sudan Briefing: 2011-06-27
Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] Read more >>>
Commentary South Kordofan: troops at war, tribes at peace?
News reports are full of reports of violence in South Kordofan, but peace still exists in many places. Despite escalating violence, communities historically involved in the conflict are rejecting violence. Read more >>>
Commentary Political pluralism: lessons from Lebanon and Turkey
With the optimism of the Arab Spring long since replaced by the anxiety over the escalating violence in Syria, Yemen, and Libya, a vision for democracy in the Middle East has been difficult to conjure. The announcement on 13 June of a new cabinet in Lebanon under Prime Minister designate Najib Mikati and the re-election the day before of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development party under Tayyip Erdogan offer two encouraging examples of both the promise and challenges of transitioning democracies in the region. Read more >>>
Interview Jason Stearns: elections, minerals and impunity in DRC
Jason Stearns is the author of a new book, Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa. He has worked on the conflict in the Congo for the past ten years, including work for the United Nations and the International Crisis Group. Listen here to an exclusive interview about his new book and the different challenges facing DR Congo today, including the upcoming elections, the role of minerals in the conflict and impunity for crimes committed during the Congolese Wars. Read more >>>
From the field DR Congo: Making Crafts from War
Hope can make all the difference in a person’s life. One small light of hope can lead people to peace, even in the massive shadow of war. SHONA, which means “sew” in Swahili, started with a simple idea; to give dignity and hope to a handful of handicapped persons living in Goma, in the DR Congo who are normally expected to beg for their subsistence. Read more >>>
From the field A peace community’s unrelenting commitment to peace
In rural Colombia, choosing to follow a path of peace is not an easy option. Those who, in choosing such a path, declare neutrality in the conflict are labelled as enemies by the followers of a “with us or against us” logic. However, when those declaring their commitment to peace are driven by the conviction that a new reality is not only necessary but essential, there is no deviation from that path, regardless of the consequences. This has been the story for the San José de Apartadó Peace Community. Read more >>>
Sudan Briefing: 2011-06-13
Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] Read more >>>
From the field Rebuilding the lives of war-affected women
When she was 13 years old, Ashoka Fellow Milly Auma was captured by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, and was forced to serve as a the wife of a rebel commander. Eight years later, when she was finally able to escape back to her village with her two children, Milly was met by former friends and neighbors with hostility and fear. The realities she had brought home with her, in the form of both her children and her scars, epitomized everything the residents of her village had been trying to escape. Read more >>>
Sudan Briefing: 2011-06-06
Following South Sudan’s referendum on independence, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact [email protected] Read more >>>
Commentary Understanding the local dynamics of security
Why should we get local actors involved in conflict and complex security issues? Are they capable of dealing with large-scale insecurity, violent conflicts and oppressive regimes? Is the state not responsible for security, and is it not up to state security actors to provide security? And if these states are not willing or able to provide security, are international organisations such as the UN, NATO and the like not the most capable of dealing with insecurity in states? Based on my recent research in Sudan, Burundi and DR Congo, I would argue that this is not necessarily so. Read more >>>
