The Importance of Contact Between Refugees and Host Communities
Contact with refugees is associated with a 50% increase in one’s likelihood to strongly support the country’s hosting of refugees and a doubling of one’s likelihood to be willing to hire or to allow one’s children to marry refugees compared to someone who does not have such contact.
Blaming and Targeting Refugees in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks
Prevalent governmental violence against refugees is 47% more likely in the wake of a terrorist attack, and it is probable that this violence is a form of scapegoating against refugee communities rather than a direct means to greater security.
Special Issue: Refugees & Migrants
Considering the plight of migrants (258 million globally) and especially refugees (26 million globally) is impossible to do without also considering war and human security. On the most obvious level, one of the many enormous costs of war is the massive human displacement it causes as people try to protect themselves by leaving the war zone.
How Feelings Make Military Checkpoints Even More Dangerous for Civilians in Iraq
An average of one Iraqi civilian was killed at a coalition checkpoint each day between 2006 and 2007.
Resisting Exclusionary Nationalism During the Bosnian War
The city of Tuzla was able to resist exclusionary nationalist forces during the Bosnian War due to its identity formation from 1878 to 1990 as a “multi-ethnic working class society with strong anti-fascist, anti-nationalist ideals.”
The Unintended Consequences of UN Peacekeeping’s Use of Security Contractors
The UN’s heavy reliance on security contractors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) results in more money for institutions and groups that are perceived as corrupt and/or sources of insecurity for many Congolese people.
“Uncivil” Society Organizations in Bougainville and Timor-Leste: Subverting Transitional Justice in Post-Conflict Settings
In Bougainville and Timor-Leste, uncivil society groups were composed of ex-combatants and/or marginalized communities who felt that they were excluded from the peace and reconciliation process.
Traditional Governance and the Maintenance of Peace in Sub-Saharan Africa
Traditional governance, including local chiefs, kings, or conflict resolution mechanisms, can play a powerful role in maintaining peace if it is integrated with the public administration of the state (a scenario called “institutional hybridity”).
Volume 4, Issue 3
In this issue, we examine a set of articles with a great deal of regional diversity — two articles focus on peacebuilding or peacekeeping in Africa, one looks at resistance to exclusionary nationalism in Bosnia (Europe), another explores “uncivil society” in Bougainville and Timor-Leste (Asia-Pacific), and, finally, one considers military checkpoints in Iraq (Middle East). These articles heighten our awareness of the complexities and challenges involved in peacebuilding after war. All the more reason to avoid war in the first place.
Nonviolent Movements for Social Change Considered More Moral and Supportable
Reformists in Iran were more willing to support and join a hypothetical Green Movement in the future if it were to use nonviolent rather than violent strategies.
From Encountering the “Other Side” to Social Change Activism
Organizations that bring together people from multiple sides of a conflict can play an important role in motivating participants to become activists for social change.
