How do international organizations support local peacebuilding? Do they really understand conflict? Partners in Peace challenges the global perceptions and assumptions of the roles played by civil society in peacebuilding and offers a radically new perspective on how international organizations can support such efforts. Framing the debate using case studies from Africa and Central America, the author examines different meanings of peacebuilding, the practices and politics of interpreting conflict and how planned interventions work out. Comparing original views with contemporary perceptions of non-state actors, Partners in Peace includes many recommendations for NGOs involved in peacebuilding and constructs a new understanding on how these possible solutions relate to politics and practices on the ground. Concise in both theoretical and empirical analysis, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of civil society's role in building sustainable peace.

Civil society’s role in conflict and peace-building is increasingly being recognized: an integral element in conflict, it can act within the conflict dynamic to fuel discord further or to entrench the status quo. Alternatively, it can bring about peaceful resolution and reconciliation. The question at hand is not whether to engage civil society in contexts of conflict, but rather how governmental actors can partner with civil society to induce conflict resolution and conflict transformation. The collection of essays in this volume attempts to explore this nexus between civil society and peace-building, especially in the context of intra-state and identity-driven conflicts, across different regions by focusing on case studies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

As the world faces a multitude of complexly-interwoven challenges, new values and new worldviews are emerging to change the ways in which human beings relate to each other, to our planet, and to all life on Earth. In today's globalized world, humanity is becoming inescapably aware that coexistence, cooperation, and respect for diversity are fundamental values by which all of us must live. These essential human values, which apply in all individual and societal relationships, are likewise intrinsic to a culture of peace: a way of living that will allow a harmonious, multifaceted, global civilization to blossom.Central to this volume is a belief that in an interdependent world, collective decision-making for the collective good is the most effective way to move forward. In order to respect the balance among cultures and nations, decisions that have a global impact must be taken multilaterally. No culture can achieve and maintain its international objectives by acting unilaterally; nor can any nation or cultural group claim to represent the whole of humanity.Shaping the Culture of Peace in a Multilateral World compiles prominent visionary articles from United Nations institutions and regional and other intergovernmental organizations, and highlights the contributions being made to the creation of a culture of peace. It aims to strengthen multilateral cooperation among intergovernmental organizations worldwide, and to facilitate the formation of a global network of multilateral mechanisms, which will provide collective and holistic responses to the peace and security challenges of the 21st century. Shaping the Culture of Peace in a Multilateral World is in itself a true example of multilateralism, and a publication treasure for people, who are active or interested in international diplomacy and international affairs.

Latin American and Caribbean communities and civil societies are undergoing a rapid process of transformation. Instead of pervasive social atomization, political apathy, and hollowed-out democracies, which have become the norm in some parts of the world, this region is witnessing an emerging collaboration between community, civil society, and government that is revitalizing democracy. This book argues that a key explanation lies in the powerful and positive relationship between community and civil society that exists in the region. The ideas of community and civil society tend to be studied separately, as analytically distinct concepts however, this volume seeks to explore their potential to work together. A unique contribution of the work is the space for dialogue it creates between the social sciences and the humanities. Many of the studies included in the volume are based on primary fieldwork and place-based case studies. Others relate literature, music and film to important theoretical works, providing a new direction in interdisciplinary studies, and highlighting the role that the arts play in community revival and broader processes of social change. A truly multi-disciplinary book bridging established notions of civil society and community through an authentically interdisciplinary approach to the topic.