Understanding Quality Peace: Peacebuilding after Civil War (Routledge Studies in Security and Conflict Management)

This book provides an analytical framework for understanding how the concept of quality peace can be used to evaluate post-conflict peacebuilding, using social science, statistics, and case studies. Including contributions from more than 20 researchers and practitioners, it argues that the quality of the peace in a post-conflict state relates to the extent to which peace accords are implemented, the agreed-upon mechanism for the non-violent resolution of the conflict, and the available social space for civil and political actors. To arrive at the concept of 'quality peace', the authors evaluate the existing literature and identify a lack of a satisfactory means of measuring outcomes, and consequently how these might be researched comparatively. The volume problematizes the 'quality peace' concept as a way to understand the origins of armed conflict as well as problems deriving from the conflict dynamics and the need for social, political, and economic changes in the post-conflict periods. The book emphasizes five dimensions as crucial for quality peace in a post-accord society. Negotiations and agreements not only aim at avoiding the return of war but also seek to: (1) promote reconciliation, (2) develop mechanisms for resolving future disputes, (3) provide for reliable security, (4) open economic opportunities for marginalized segments of the population, and (5) generate space for civil society. These five dimensions together provide for quality peace after war. They are studied in the context of internal armed conflicts in which multiple parties have signed a peace agreement. This book will be of great interest to students of peace and conflict studies, civil wars, global governance, security studies, and International Relations in general. Understanding quality peace : introducing the five dimensions / Madhav Joshi & Peter Wallensteen -- Peace implementation and quality peace / Terence Lyons -- Same peace, different quality? : the importance of security equality for quality peace / Louise Olsson -- Governance and negotiations : whose quality standards? / Roger Mac Ginty -- Approaches to negotiations in post-civil war settings : the role of local institutions / Jenny Guardado, Leonard Wantchekon, & Sarah Weltman -- Business on the frontlines / Viva Ona Bartkus -- Peace processes, economic recovery and development agencies / Achim Wennmann -- Factoring transitional justice into the quality peace equation / David Backer -- The challenges of reconciling the old and the new in truth and reconciliation commission processes : the case of Solomon Islands / Karen Brounéus & Holly Guthrey -- Reconciliation's contributions to quality peace / Alexander Dukalskis, Laura K. Taylor & John Darby -- Is civil society needed for quality peace? / Thania Paffenholz -- Civil society and quality peace : what happened in El Salvador / Richard Jones -- Quality of peace in Cambodia : 20 years after the Paris Peace Agreement / Kheang Un -- El Salvador twenty years later : successful democratization but questionable peace / Dinorah Azpuru -- Quality peace Northern Ireland case study / Colin Knox -- Mozambique : a credible commitment to peace / Carrie Manning & Chipo Dendere -- Developing quality peace : moving forward / Peter Wallensteen & Madhav Joshi This book aims to contribute to debates about the concept of 'quality peace', and provides an analytical framework to show how this concept can be used to evaluate post-conflict peacebuilding through a number of case studies.