Building Peace in Cyberspace

By examining cybersecurity through the lens of peace and conflict studies, we can shift the discourse on cyberwar to a focus on cyberpeace.

How Social Networks Facilitate Protest Against and Amid Criminal Violence

Involvement in social networks helps explain why individuals decide to protest the insecurity they face, despite the risks from both criminal groups and state security forces.

War Results in Adverse Health Outcomes for Children 

Across 52 developing countries, children exposed to armed conflict score significantly lower on key measures of childhood health compared to those who are not exposed to armed conflict.

How Women’s Situation Rooms Harness Gender to Prevent Political Violence

In various West African countries, women’s situation rooms (WSRs) monitor election-related violence and more, which enables them to respond to emerging crises.

Police Fragmentation Increases Risk of Conflict Recurrence and Human Rights Abuses in Post-Conflict Countries  

Police fragmentation results in a higher risk of conflict recurrence and “greater discretion in the use of violence…against the civilian population” in post-conflict countries.  

Photo credit: UN Women via Flickr

Local Capacities for Preventing and Rejecting Violent Conflict

The very existence of peaceful societies demonstrates that communities have options and agency even in the broader context of wartime violence.

Photo credit: Nonviolent Peaceforce

Thinking About “Safety” and “Security”

Due to a broader context of militarism, “security” has become closely associated with military and/or armed approaches to defense and protection.

Photo credit: Wollwerth/ Adobe Stock

Familiarity as a Means of Protecting the Community Against Atrocity Crimes

In the context of violence in South Sudan, civilians leveraged relationships to overcome protection gaps left by external actors.

Photo credit: Terver/ Adobe Stock

The Role of Community Gender Norms and Relations in Both Mobilizing and Preventing Violence in Jos, Nigeria

Different norms of masculinity, and the broader community’s cultivation of these, as well as women’s roles in encouraging or mitigating violence, significantly influence whether a community will mobilize for violence or resist participation in violence amidst communal conflict.

Photo credit: Katie/ Adobe Stock

Beyond Victims or Peacebuilders: Women’s Participation in Security in Mathare, Kenya

When women’s contributions are overlooked due to an overwhelming focus on men’s security activities, “gendered political participation, social relations and socio-economic inequalities” are also overlooked as key components of security.

Photo credit: Soupstock/ Adobe Stock

A Trauma-Informed Healing Approach to Urban Gun Violence

A public health-informed approach acknowledging racial trauma and emphasizing individual healing is a promising way to address urban gun violence.