Mediation has been successful at bringing down levels of violence and bringing popular welfare and social justice demands onto the political agenda. These gains are underthreat as the government fails to take the process seriously.
As Afghanistan looks to a future beyond international intervention, regional support will become ever more important.
The creation of a Ministry for Homeland Security further entrenches a militarized vision of security centred on the state. This is an internal version of 'peacekeeping', not the 'peacebuilding' the country needs.
A powerful new political movement bringing rural and urban Colombian civil society onto a common platform poses the real possibility for sustainable peacebuilding in Colombia. The reaction of the government to its emergence will be a path-setting moment.
This week is the third anniversary of the end the Sri Lankan civil war. Yet there is hope: it lies within Sri Lanka's reach to move from 'post-war' to 'post-conflict', as Sri Lankans work towards a new era of equitable governance.See the debate: Is reconciliation possible in Sri Lanka?
The hostility between South Sudan and Sudan over Heglig is symptom of the larger unresolved issues between the two states. The CPA established a fragile peace which secession has not strengthened.
Iran and the 5 +1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) began talks on 15 April in Istanbul with a plenary session of all parties. The White House has welcomed Iran-5+1 group talks as a ‘positive first step’.
Twenty years of conflict has destroyed the social fabric of Casamance. The only way to re-instate security and eradicate famine in an area once known as the bread-basket of Senegal is to ask the women farmers, says Tabara Ndiaye
As global public attention is turned to Bangladesh and the International Crime Tribunal, the country's complex political situation comes under scrutiny. Both main parties face a growing opposition from militant Islamism which thrives on local discontent as well as on appeals to global jihadism.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE A year after the birth of South Sudan, the country is facing a new challenge as it turned off its oil taps. While this decision endangers the country’s near future, it sheds light on possible strategic partnerships in the long run.
Peace in Pakistan and the entire region can only be achieved by the creation of genuine democracy in Pakistan, with its military institutions accountable to its elected bodies. Pakistan’s army consumes 38% of Pakistan’s budget without accounting for most of it.
