Studien des Leibniz-Instituts für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung – serie

This book examines one of the most important questions in peace research: What leads to enduring peace after civil wars, and what leads to the resurgence of violence? For decades, intrastate conflicts have been the predominant form of armed conflict, and most recent civil wars were conflicts that recurred. The research presented in this book focuses on influenceable factors, first and foremost on the type of civil war termination and on the post-civil war order that is shaped by the distribution of military power between the former warring parties and the scale of political compromise. Moreover, it shows that the peacekeeping environment has a major influence on whether peace endures. The insights provided in this book are relevant for the academic community, and for decision-makers and practitioners involved in civilian or military efforts to establish and preserve peace.

Counter- and alternative narrative (CAN) campaigns have become a widely used tool in contemporary efforts to prevent and/or counter (violent) extremism (P/CVE).  However, one element is conspicuously absent from the discourse: There is little engagement with CANs as narratives and neither CAN theory nor practice are based on existing research findings on narrative persuasion processes. This is a crucial gap in the current CAN approach. Not situating CANs within the broader discourse on narrative persuasion and drawing from the insights narrative persuasion studies offer significantly weakens the theoretical foundation, practical development, (storytelling) quality, and analysis of CAN campaigns.This book addresses this research gap and transfers concepts, theories, and insights from narrative persuasion and storytelling research to the context of P/CVE narrative campaigns.  The author demonstrates that the often-criticized CAN approach can be improved significantly by understanding CANs as narrative persuasion campaigns and grounding them in existing research detailing how to tell entertaining and persuasive stories.