Civil Society, Peace, and Power (Peace and Security in the 21st Century)

Civil society plays an increasingly powerful role in the global landscape, emerging as key actors in preventing and managing conflict, and building more peaceful and sustainable societies . The multiple case studies featured in this volume illustrate the growth of civil society involvement in national, regional, and international peacebuilding policy. The focus is on multi-stakeholder, systems-based approaches to peacebuilding and human security that involve diverse civil society groups (NGOs, religious organizations, media, etc.), government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and security forces. This unique comprehensive approach encompasses diverse stakeholders seeking to understand the drivers of conflict and the possibilities for working together to build peace. The book illustrates how the involvement of civil society can result in better informed, more inclusive, more accountable government decision making, and more effective peacebuilding policies. Importantly, a number of the case studies provide a gender perspective on peacebuilding and civil society issues, voicing and giving attention to women’s perspectives without being focused only on gender issues. Further, authors from the Global South offer the perspectives of those directly immersed in ongoing struggles for justice and peace. Civil society and the power to build peaceful and inclusive societies / by Peter van Tuijl -- Civil society and the 2030 agenda : forging a path to universal sustainable peace through policy formulation / Erin McCandless -- The politics of inclusion : civil society engagement in the new deal / Kristen Wall and Rachel Fairhurst -- Integrating gender into the new deal process / Dewi Suralaga, Mahbouba Seraj and Karen Robinson -- From national security to human security : developing effective partnerships between the UN, regional organizations and civil society / Darynell Rodriguez -- The role of WANEP in crafting peace and security architecture in West Africa / Emmanuel Bombande -- The role of women in regional peace and security : experiences from the Pacific / Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls and Laurel Stone -- Civil society's peacebuilding approach to civil-military-police coordination in security sector reform / Lisa Schirch -- Unlikely partners for conflict transformation : engaging the military as stakeholders for peace in Mindanao / Myla Leguro and Hyunjin Deborah Kwak -- POLSEDE, civil society, and security sector reform in Guatemala / Bernardo Arévalo de Leon and Ana Glenda Táger -- Conclusion : civil society empowerment for human security / David Cortright, Melanie Greenberg, Laurel Stone and Anna Milovanovic The case studies in this volume show the growth of civil society involvement in national, regional, and international peacebuilding policy. The focus is on multi-stakeholder, systems-based approaches to peacebuilding and security that involve diverse civil society groups, government agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and security forces.