Does Reconciliation Prevent Future Atrocities?

Does Reconciliation Prevent Future Atrocities?

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

By: Kate Lonergan

What are atrocity crimes, why and when do they arise, and how can peacebuilding practice help to prevent them? This report delves into the conceptual foundations of reconciliation and atrocity prevention in the context of Sri Lanka’s history of conflict and ongoing reconciliation process, analyzing institutional-level reconciliation efforts and drawing from a randomized field experiment in an interpersonal reconciliation program. It suggests that by understanding the conditions under which reconciliation is most effective, peacebuilding practice will be better placed to achieve its goals after violent conflict.

Type: Peaceworks

ReconciliationConflict Analysis & Prevention

Reconciliation and Transitional Justice in Nepal: A Slow Path

Reconciliation and Transitional Justice in Nepal: A Slow Path

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

In 2006, the government of Nepal and Maoist insurgents brokered the end of a ten-year civil war that had killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands. The ensuing Comprehensive Peace Agreement laid out a path to peace and ushered in a coalition government. Nepal’s people were eager to see the fighting end. Their political leaders, however...

Type: Peace Brief

ReconciliationJustice, Security & Rule of Law

Rwanda’s Election Signals Risk to Recovery from Genocide

Rwanda’s Election Signals Risk to Recovery from Genocide

Thursday, July 6, 2017

By: Corinne Graff, Ph.D.

Rwandans head to the polls in August for an election in which incumbent President Paul Kagame will seek—and likely win handily—a third seven-year term. Despite the controversy over a 2015 referendum that amended the constitution to let him to run again and possibly stay in power for as long as 35 years, his political opposition...

Type: Analysis

Global Elections & ConflictDemocracy & GovernanceReconciliation

Grassroots Work in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Grassroots Work in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Thursday, March 23, 2017

By: Fred Strasser

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, drawing on his experience negotiating the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland and trying for an accord between Israelis and Palestinians, said ending violent conflict requires two critical components: committed political leadership and grassroots efforts that build bridges between peoples.

Type: Analysis

ReconciliationPeace Processes

Nigerian Governors on Ways to Halt Crises, Boko Haram

Nigerian Governors on Ways to Halt Crises, Boko Haram

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

By: USIP Staff

A dozen governors from northern Nigeria say their region’s crises—warfare, poverty and millions of uprooted people—can be ended only with initiatives for education, reconciliation among rival groups, and the political inclusion of minorities and women. As Nigeria works to repair and build relations between police and communities, several governors said, the country’s federally run police system should be complemented with state or local police forces. The elected state governors, who wield im...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismEnvironmentReconciliationEconomics

 Mosul After ISIS: No Clear Plan for Peace

Mosul After ISIS: No Clear Plan for Peace

Monday, October 31, 2016

By: James Rupert

Two weeks into Iraq’s offensive to recapture Mosul from ISIS militants, the government and its fractious allies have not agreed on how to stabilize and govern the disputed region in the aftermath. The threat of new rounds of conflict, even after a recovery of Mosul from ISIS, is highlighted by the weekend’s surprise advance by Shia Muslim militias, which make up one of at least four main rival forces in the assault. The militia units announced that their fighters had begun a drive on the cont...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismMediation, Negotiation & DialogueFragility & ResilienceReconciliation

Q&A: Myanmar’s Peace Process, Suu Kyi Style

Q&A: Myanmar’s Peace Process, Suu Kyi Style

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Four days of talks last week restarted Myanmar’s peace process almost a year after a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement was signed by some but not all of the country’s armed groups. The process, known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference, or Union Peace Conference, is intended to convene every six months and aims to end the decades-long conflicts between and among the Myanmar army and an array of rebel groups. Vanessa Johanson, the Myanmar country director for the U.S. Institute of Peace, exam...

Type: Analysis

Mediation, Negotiation & DialoguePeace ProcessesReconciliation

Iraq’s Executions: Aftershock of ISIS’ Deadliest Atrocity

Iraq’s Executions: Aftershock of ISIS’ Deadliest Atrocity

Monday, August 22, 2016

By: USIP Staff

Iraq’s execution yesterday of 36 men whom it accused of committing the deadliest single atrocity by the Islamic State group underscores that any stabilization of Iraq will require international support to strengthen the country’s overburdened judicial system, according to USIP Iraq specialist Sarhang Hamasaeed. Iraq’s government came under intense pressure from the country’s Shia Muslim majority population, and from the Shia “Popular Mobilization Forces,” or pro-government militias, to conduc...

Type: Analysis

Violent ExtremismReconciliation