Syracuse Studies on Peace and Conflict Resolution – serie

The Western Sahara conflict has proven to be one of the most protracted and intractable struggles facing the international community. Pitting local nationalist determination against Moroccan territorial ambitions, the dispute is further complicated by regional tensions with Algeria and the geo-strategic concerns of major global players, including the United States, France, and the territory s former colonial ruler, Spain. For over twenty years, the UN Security Council has failed to find a formula that will delicately balance these interests against Western Sahara s long-denied right to a self-determination referendum as one of the last UN-recognized colonies. In the first book-length treatment of the issue in over two decades, Zunes and Mundy examine the origins, evolution, and resilience of the Western Sahara conflict, deploying a diverse array of sources and firsthand knowledge of the region gained from multiple research visits. Shifting geographical frames local, regional, and international provide for a robust analysis of the stakes involved.

The Western Sahara conflict has proven to be one of the most protracted and intractable struggles facing the international community. Pitting local nationalist determination against Moroccan territorial ambitions, the dispute is further complicated by regional tensions with Algeria and the geo-strategic concerns of major global players, including the United States, France, and the territory's former colonial ruler, Spain. For over twenty years, the UN Security Council has failed to find a formula that will delicately balance these interests against Western Sahara's long-denied right to a self-determination referendum as one of the last UN-recognized colonies. In the first book-length treatment of the issue in over two decades, Zunes and Mundy examine the origins, evolution, and resilience of the Western Sahara conflict, deploying a diverse array of sources and firsthand knowledge of the region gained from multiple research visits. Shifting geographical frames - local, regional, and international - provide for a robust analysis of the stakes involved.

An American Ordeal is a comprehensive interpretive history that covers the anti-war movement in the USA throughout the entire Vietnam era. This study offers a narrative of the struggle that took place on the home front, even as the war itself was being waged in South-east Asia. Portraying the movement as a social force that energized people culturally yet failed to develop enduring political strength, the authors view the war as part of the long tradition of peace activism in America, as well as a process that ultimately spurred citizens to take decisive action against their government's policy. Beginning with the rise of a liberal peace movement against atmospheric nuclear testing from 1955 to 1963, the authors describe the emergence of radical pacifists and politically motivated groups who eventually created a diverse coalition against the Vietnam War. They examine how extremist elements came to dominate the movement in the late 1960s, to be supplanted by a larger consensus of liberal and pacifist groups in the early 1970s.

This work integrates feminist scholarship with peace research to draw attention to the fundamental relationship between sexism and militarism. The author sees an unhealthy imbalance of male principles in modern society, leading to war, aggression, greed, and other embodiments of masculinity.

The greatest wave of communal living in American history crested in the tumultuous 1960s era including the early 1970s. To the fascination and amusement of more decorous citizens, hundreds of thousands of mostly young dreamers set out to build a new culture apart from the established society that they believed was on a slippery slope to oblivion. Widely believed by the larger public to be sinks of drug-ridden sexual immorality, the communes variously fascinated and repelled the American people. The intentional communities of the 1960s era were far more diverse than the stereotype of the hippie commune would suggest. A great many of them were religious in basis, stressing spiritual seeking and disciplined lifestyles. Others were founded on secular visions of a better society. Hundreds of them became so stable that they still survive today. This is a survey of the broad sweep of this great social yearning from the first portents of a new type of communitarianism in the early 1960s through the waning of the movement in the mid-1970s. Based on over 500 interviews conducted for the 60s Commune Project, among other sources, it preserves a colourful and vigorous episode in American history.

When four New York City police officers killed Amadou Diallo in 1999, the forty-one shots they fired echoed loudly across the nation. In death, Diallo joined a long list of young men of color killed by police fire in cities and towns all across America. Through innuendos of criminality, many of these victims could be discredited and, by implication, held responsible for their own deaths. But Diallo was an innocent, a young West African immigrant doing nothing more suspicious than returning home to his Bronx apartment after working hard all day in the city. Protesters took to the streets, successfully demanding that the four white officers be brought to trial. When the officers were acquitted, however, horrified onlookers of all races and ethnicities despaired of justice. In ""41 Shots...and Counting"", Beth Roy offers an oral history of Diallo's death. Through interviews with members of the community, with police officers and lawyers, with government officials and mothers of young men in jeopardy, the book traces the political and racial dynamics that placed the officers outside Diallo's house that night, their fingers on symbolic as well as actual triggers. With lucid analysis, Roy explores events in the courtroom, in city hall, in the streets, and in the police precinct, revealing the interlacing conflict dynamics. ""41 Shots...and Counting"" allows the reader to consider the implications of the Diallo case for our national discourses on politics, race, class, crime, and social justice.

Managing Global Conflicts presents an overview of major alternative approaches to the analysis of international negotiations developed in the literature of the past sixty years. By combining empirical verification of hypotheses and a broad interest in what can be learned from existing research, P. Terrence Hopmann and Sinisa Vukovic suggest prescriptions for improving the negotiation process to produce better, mutually beneficial outcomes. The authors examine the extensive tradition of theory and research on international negotiation processes at both the intra-state and inter-state levels. They analyze alternative theoretical approaches and the conditions under which these theories may prove most relevant. By introducing elements of complexity at multiple levels, they explore the factors under which different outcomes may emerge from negotiations in conflict scenarios, including relative power, decision-making structures, the roles of individual cognitive frames, images, and cultural practices. Hopmann and Vukovic present a menu of options for evaluating the relationships between the initial conditions of conflict, the negotiation process, and the outcomes of that process in determining the extent to which conflicts are resolved. Featuring case studies and a thorough analysis of the field, Managing Global Conflicts is an essential resource for students, scholars, and practitioners of negotiation at many levels.

This work offers an introduction to the best-known antiwar movement in United States history, written by veterans of the Vietnam War and participants in the movement. It examines how the activities of the movement affected the lives of most Americans.

Since the early 1950s, John Paul Lederach has traveled worldwide as a mediation trainer and conflict resolution consultant. He has worked with governments, justice departments, and youth programs in Latin America, the Philippines, Cambodia, Somalia, and Africa. Drawing on his experience, Lederach explains the process and key variables used in teaching conflict resolution. Lederach uses anecdotes and pertinent experiences to demonstrate his resolution techniques. The book will appeal to those involved in resolution activities through development, relief, and nongovernmental agencies.

Showing how scarcity and surplus populations can lead to disaster, the contributors to this text discuss ""ethnic cleansing"" and the world's expanding killing fields. They anticipate mass death and genocide for the 21st century and provide responses to this impending catastrophe.

Sociologist Elise Boulding offers a collection of essays that emphasize her study of civil society during the second half of the 20th century. She revisits her theme of connection among family, community and government, offering perspectives and advice on how to fuel the process of peace.

Offering a comprehensive history of the War Resisters League, this book explores the evolution of the organization from a single-issue pacifist registry, educational forum and political pressure group into a multi-issue organization that campaigned for international peace and social justice.

Explains the process whereby countries become locked into long-term international conflicts, and how they can escape that conflict spiral. Why do international situations spiral out of control and into war? Why do conflict finally wind down after years, if not decades, of tension? Various faults in conventional thinking, ranging from relying on indeterminate predictions to ignoring the interaction between domestic and international events, have impeded the explanations for the continuation, escalation, and dampening of rivalry conflict.In Scare Tactics: The Politics of International Rivalry, Michael P. Colaresi analyzes how domestic institutions and interactions among nations converge to become incentives for either war or peace. Specifically, domestic pressure to continue rivalry and resist capitulating to the ""enemy"" can be exacerbated in situations where elites benefit from fear-mongering, a process Colaresi refers to as ""rivalry outbidding."" When rivalry outbidding becomes fused with pressure to change the status quo, even a risky escalation may be preferable to cooperation or rivalry maintenance. The eventual outcomes of such dynamic two-level pressures, if unchecked, are increased conflict, destruction, and death. Colaresi contends, however, that if leaders can resist pressures to escalate threats and step up rivalries, a deteriorating status quo can instead spur cooperation and peace.

Frank Moller explores why the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have not evolved into a security community despite the area undergoing, since the mid 1980s, considerable change with little turmoil. This book focuses on the tensions resulting from policies in the Baltic states aiming at an increase in both security and sovereignty. Moller shows how these states' attempts at increasing their security were intricately bound up with their efforts at autonomous nation-state building. Moller argues that a primary obstacle to security community building was the construction of nation-states based upon an exceedingly traditional template emphasizing the connection between the state, sovereignty, and military security. One complicating factor, he demonstrates, is that as the Baltic states aspired to NATO membership, unique challenges prevail, for example, a perceived threat of looming Russian imperialism and the perseverance of a collective memory emphasizing anti-Soviet resistance. Moller also examines such key issues as the demise of the Soviet Union, the nonviolent withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic States, and U.S. foreign policy in northern Europe. Here is a profound, multifaceted look at issues of security in the contemporary world - a crucial tool for researchers and students of peace and conflict studies.

At its core, the field of conflict resolution is about relationships and ways of approaching methods for problem solving. These relationships and approaches vary greatly depending on the individual, society, and historical background. Cultural perspective is thus fundamental to any dispute intervention. ""Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice"" is a collection of essays by scholars and practitioners of conflict resolution and grassroots members of communities whose contributions are not commonly recognized.The volume offers a sampling of the cultural voices essential to effective practice yet often considered marginal in the discourse of conflict resolution. The authors explore the role of culture, race, and oppression in resolving disputes. Drawing on firsthand experience and sound research, the authors address such issues as culturally sensitive mediation practices, the diversity of perspectives in conflict resolution literature, and power dynamics. The first anthology of its kind, this book combines personal narratives with formal scholarship. By melding these varied approaches, the authors seek to inspire activism for social justice in today's multicultural society.

At its core, the field of conflict resolution is about relationships and ways of approaching methods for problem solving. These relationships and approaches vary greatly depending on the individual, society, and historical background. Cultural perspective is thus fundamental to any dispute intervention. ""Re-Centering Culture and Knowledge in Conflict Resolution Practice"" is a collection of essays by scholars and practitioners of conflict resolution and grassroots members of communities whose contributions are not commonly recognized.The volume offers a sampling of the cultural voices essential to effective practice yet often considered marginal in the discourse of conflict resolution. The authors explore the role of culture, race, and oppression in resolving disputes. Drawing on firsthand experience and sound research, the authors address such issues as culturally sensitive mediation practices, the diversity of perspectives in conflict resolution literature, and power dynamics. The first anthology of its kind, this book combines personal narratives with formal scholarship. By melding these varied approaches, the authors seek to inspire activism for social justice in today's multicultural society.

A Band of Noble Women brings together the histories of the women’s peace movement and the black women’s club and social reform movement in a story of community and consciousness building between the world wars. Believing that achievement of improved race relations was a central step in establishing world peace, African American and white women initiated new political alliances that challenged the practices of Jim Crow segregation and promoted the leadership of women in transnational politics. Under the auspices of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), they united the artistic agenda of the Harlem Renaissance, suffrage-era organizing tactics, and contemporary debates on race in their efforts to expand women’s influence on the politics of war and peace. Plastas shows how WILPF espoused middle-class values and employed gendered forms of organization building, educating thousands of people on issues ranging from U.S. policies in Haiti and Liberia to the need for global disarmament. Highlighting WILPF chapters in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Baltimore, the author examines the successes of this interracial movement as well as its failures. A Band of Noble Women enables us to examine more fully the history of race in U.S. women’s movements and illuminates the role of the women’s peace movement in setting the foundation for the civil rights movement.

Wanis-St. John takes on the question of whether the complex and often perilous, secret negotiations between mediating parties prove to be an instrumental path to reconciliation or rather one that disrupts the process. Using the Palestinian-Israeli peace process as a frame­work, the author focuses on the uses and misuses of ""back channel"" negotiations. Wanis-St. John discusses how top level PLO and Israeli government officials often resorted to secret negotiation channels even when they had designated, acknowledged negotiation teams already at work. Intense scrutiny of the media, pressure from con­stituents, and the public’s reaction, all become severe constraints to the process, causing leaders to seek out back channel negotiations. The impact of these secret talks on the peace process over time has largely been unexplored. Through interviews with major negotia­tors and policymakers on both sides and a detailed history of the conflict, the author analyzes the functions and consequences of back channel negotiations. Wanis-St. John reveals the painful irony that these methods for peacemaking have had the unintended effect of inflaming the conflict and sustaining its intractability.

Faith holds up a photo of the boarded-up, vacant house: ""It’s the first thing I see. And I just call it ‘the Homeless House’ ‘cause it’s the house that nobody fixes up."" Faith is one of fourteen women living on Syracuse’s Southside, a predominantly African-American and low-income area, who took photographs of their environment and displayed their images to facilitate dialogues about how they viewed their community. A Place We Call Home chronicles this photography project and bears witness not only to the environmental injustice experienced by these women but also to the ways in which they maintain dignity and restore order in a community where they have traditionally had little control. To understand the present plight of these women, one must understand the historical and political context in which certain urban neighbourhoods were formed: Black migration, urban renewal, white flight, capital expansion, and then bust. Ducre demonstrates how such political and economic forces created a landscape of abandoned housing within the Southside community. She spotlights the impact of this blight upon the female residents who survive in this crucible of neglect. A Place We Call Home is the first case study of the intersection of Black feminism and environmental justice, and it is also the first book-length presentation using Photovoice methodology, an innovative research and empowerment strategy that assesses community needs by utilising photographic images taken by individuals. The individuals have historically lacked power and status in formal planning processes. Through a cogent combination of words and images, this book illuminates how these women manage their daily survival in degraded environments, the tools that they deploy to do so, and how they act as agents of change to transform their communities.

Jerusalem is one of the most contested urban spaces in the world. It is a multicultural city, but one that is unlike other multiethnic cities such as London, Toronto, Paris, or New York. This book brings together scholars from across the social sciences and the humanities to consider how different disciplinary theories and methods contribute to the study of conflict and cooperation in modern Jerusalem.Several essays in the book centre on political decision-making; others focus on local and social issues. While Jerusalem’s centrality to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is explored, the chapters also cover issues that are unevenly explored in recent studies of the city. These include Jerusalem’s diverse communities of secular and orthodox Jewry and Christian Palestinians; religious and political tourism and the ""heritage managers"" of Jerusalem; the Israeli and Palestinian LGBT community and its experiences in Jerusalem; and visual and textual perspectives on Jerusalem, particularly in architecture and poetry.Adelman and Elman argue that Jerusalem is not solely a place of contention and violence, and that it should be seen as a physical and demographic reality that must function for all its communities.

By the close of the twentieth century, the United States became known for its reliance on incarceration as the chief means of social control, particularly in poor communities of color. The carceral state has been extended into the public school system in these communities in what has become known as the ""school-to-prison pipeline."" Through interviews with young people suspended from school, Weissman examines the impact of zero tolerance and other harsh disciplinary approaches that have transformed schools into penal-like institutions. In their own words, students describe their lives, the challenges they face, and their efforts to overcome those challenges. Unlike other studies, this book illuminates the students’ perspectives on what happens when the educational system excludes them from regular school.Weissman draws attention to research findings that suggest punitive disciplinary policies and practices resemble criminal justice strategies of arrest, trial, sentence, and imprisonment. She demonstrates how harsh school discipline prepares young people from poor communities of color for their place in the carceral state. An invaluable resource for policy makers, Prelude to Prison presents recommendations for policy, practice, and political change that have the potential to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.

If I had no sense of humour, I should long ago have committed suicide," wrote the late Mahatma Gandhi, expressing the potent power of humour to sustain and uplift. Less obvious is humour’s ability to operate as a cunning weapon in nonviolent protest movements. Over the last few decades, activists are increasingly incorporating subversive laughter in their protest repertoires, realizing the ways in which it challenges the ruling elite’s propaganda, defuses antagonism, and inspires both participants and the greater population.In this highly original and engaging work, Sombatpoonsiri explores the nexus between humour and nonviolent protest, aiming to enhance our understanding of the growing popularity of humour in protest movements around the world. Drawing on insights from the pioneering Otpor activists in Serbia, she provides a detailed account of the protesters’ systematic use of humour to topple Slobadan Miloševi? in 2000. Interviews with activists, protest newsletters, and documentaries of the movement combine to illustrate how humour played a pivotal role by reflecting the absurdity of the regime’s propaganda and, in turn, by delegitimizing its authority. Sombatpoonsiri highlights the Otpor activists’ ability to internationalize their nonviolent crusade, influencing youth movements in the Ukraine, Georgia, Iran, and Egypt. Globally, Otpor’s successful use of humour became an inspiration for a later generation of protest movements.

African nations have watched the recent civic dramas of the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street asking if they too will see similar civil society actions in their own countries. Nigeria—Africa’s most populous nation—has long enjoyed one of the continent’s most vibrant civil society spheres, which has been instrumental in political change. Initially viewed as contributing to democracy’s development, however, civil society groups have come under increased scrutiny by scholars and policymakers. Do some civil society groups promote democracy more effectively than others? And if so, which ones, and why? By examining the structure, organizational cultures, and methods of more than one hundred Nigerian civil society groups, Kew finds that the groups that best promote democratic development externally are themselves internally democratic. Specifically, the internally democratic civil society groups build more sustainable coalitions to resist authoritarian rule; support and influence political parties more effectively; articulate and promote public interests in a more negotiable fashion; and, most importantly, inculcate democratic norms in their members, which in turn has important democratizing impacts on national political cultures and institutions. Further, internally democratic groups are better able to resolve ethnic differences and ethnic-based tensions than their undemocratically structured peers. This book is a deeply comprehensive account of Nigerian civil society groups in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Kew blends democratic theory with conflict resolution methodologies to argue that the manner in which groups—and states—manage internal conflicts provides an important gauge as to how democratic their political cultures are. The conclusions will allow donors and policymakers to make strategic decisions in their efforts to build a democratic society in Nigeria and other regions.

Wanis-St. John takes on the question of whether the complex and often perilous, secret negotiations between mediating parties prove to be an instrumental path to reconciliation or rather one that disrupts the process. Using the Palestinian-Israeli peace process as a frame­work, the author focuses on the uses and misuses of ""back channel"" negotiations. Wanis-St. John discusses how top level PLO and Israeli government officials often resorted to secret negotiation channels even when they had designated, acknowledged negotiation teams already at work. Intense scrutiny of the media, pressure from con­stituents, and the public’s reaction, all become severe constraints to the process, causing leaders to seek out back channel negotiations. The impact of these secret talks on the peace process over time has largely been unexplored. Through interviews with major negotia­tors and policymakers on both sides and a detailed history of the conflict, the author analyzes the functions and consequences of back channel negotiations. Wanis-St. John reveals the painful irony that these methods for peacemaking have had the unintended effect of inflaming the conflict and sustaining its intractability.

As the level of distrust and alienation between Jews and Palestinians has risen over the past fif een years, the support for grassroots organizations’ attempts to bring these two groups closer has stagnated. Jewish-Palestinian youth encounter programs that flourished in the wake of the Oslo Accords now struggleto find support, as their potential to create positive social change in Israeli society is still unknown.In Youth Encounter Programs in Israel, Ross attempts to assess that potential by considering the relationship between participation in Jewish-Palestinian encounters and the long-term worldview and commitment to social change of their participants. Taking a comparative approach, Ross examines the structure and pedagogical approaches of two organizations in Israel, Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut. In doing so, Ross explores how these different organizations shape participants’ national identity, beliefs about social change, and motivation to continue engaging in peace-building activities. Based on more than one hundred interviews with program staff and former participants as well as more than two hundred hours of program observation, Ross’s work fills an important gap in the literature and holds significant relevance for peace education and conflict esolution practitioners.

As the level of distrust and alienation between Jews and Palestinians has risen over the past fif een years, the support for grassroots organizations’ attempts to bring these two groups closer has stagnated. Jewish-Palestinian youth encounter programs that flourished in the wake of the Oslo Accords now struggleto find support, as their potential to create positive social change in Israeli society is still unknown.In Youth Encounter Programs in Israel, Ross attempts to assess that potential by considering the relationship between participation in Jewish-Palestinian encounters and the long-term worldview and commitment to social change of their participants. Taking a comparative approach, Ross examines the structure and pedagogical approaches of two organizations in Israel, Peace Child Israel and Sadaka Reut. In doing so, Ross explores how these different organizations shape participants’ national identity, beliefs about social change, and motivation to continue engaging in peace-building activities. Based on more than one hundred interviews with program staff and former participants as well as more than two hundred hours of program observation, Ross’s work fills an important gap in the literature and holds significant relevance for peace education and conflict esolution practitioners.

Political repression often paradoxically fuels popular movements rather than undermining resistance. When authorities respond to strategic nonviolent action with intimidation, coercion, and violence, they often undercut their own legitimacy, precipitating significant reforms or even governmental overthrow. Brutal repression of a movement is often a turning point in its history: Bloody Sunday in the March to Selma led to the passage of civil rights legislation by the US Congress, and the Amritsar Massacre in India showed the world the injustice of the British Empire’s use of force in maintaining control over its colonies.Activists in a wide range of movements have engaged in nonviolent strategies of repression management that can raise the likelihood that repression will cost those who use it. The Paradox of Repression and Nonviolent Movements brings scholars and activists together to address multiple dimensions and significant cases of this phenomenon, including the relational nature of nonviolent struggle and the cultural terrain on which it takes place, the psychological costs for agents of repression, and the importance of participation, creativity, and overcoming fear, whether in the streets or online.

Although the concept of credibility has been identified by the United Nations as a significant factor in successful peacekeeping operations, its role has largely been ignored in the literature on peacekeeping at the local level. In this book, Newby provides the first detailed examination of credibility’s essential place in peacekeeping. With empirically rich analysis, Newby explores the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and its navigation of political tensions in one of the world’s geopolitical flashpoints, a place where the mission’s work is constrained by weak local legitimacy born of a complex political situation. Identifying four types of credibility—technical, material, security, and responsiveness—Newby traces the ways in which building credibility served UNIFIL and has enabled the mission to exercise its mandate despite significant challenges on the ground. Peacekeeping in South Lebanon unpacks the day-to-day business of running a peace mission and argues that credibility should be regarded as an independent construct when considering how a peacekeeping operation functions and survives.

Political repression often paradoxically fuels popular movements rather than undermining resistance. When authorities respond to strategic nonviolent action with intimidation, coercion, and violence, they often undercut their own legitimacy, precipitating significant reforms or even governmental overthrow. Brutal repression of a movement is often a turning point in its history: Bloody Sunday in the March to Selma led to the passage of civil rights legislation by the US Congress, and the Amritsar Massacre in India showed the world the injustice of the British Empire’s use of force in maintaining control over its colonies.Activists in a wide range of movements have engaged in nonviolent strategies of repression management that can raise the likelihood that repression will cost those who use it. The Paradox of Repression and Nonviolent Movements brings scholars and activists together to address multiple dimensions and significant cases of this phenomenon, including the relational nature of nonviolent struggle and the cultural terrain on which it takes place, the psychological costs for agents of repression, and the importance of participation, creativity, and overcoming fear, whether in the streets or online.