From Participatory Transition Processes to Inclusive State-building and Governance
This publication presents results of the research project “Avoiding Conflict Relapse through Inclusive Political Settlements and State-building after Intra-State War: Opportunities, Approaches and Lessons Learned.”
Recent experience around the world has demonstrated that resistance and liberation movements have become a defining feature of contemporary political conflicts, and that in the end, reaching political settlements needs their active involvement and cooperative engagement. The purpose of this report is to understand more fully how choices between violent and non-violent strategies are made to achieve certain political ends, which factors impact on these decisions, and conversely, how these choices affect conflict transformation and post-war reconstruction.
The Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management presents a report on the conference "Negotiating Conflict Settlements: Lessons Learnt and Challenges," held in Berlin from March 7-9, 2008. This event was part of the Berghof project focused on resistance/liberation movements and their transition to politics, aimed at fostering peer-advice and experience exchange among key members of these movements regarding peace negotiations and implementation. The report outlines the project's context, the conference's objectives, and its format. It highlights three main areas of lessons learned and ongoing challenges in conflict transformation: 1. **Coming to the Negotiation Table**: Participants shared insights from their experiences in peace talks, emphasizing the importance of risk-taking, building alliances with civil society, mobilizing international support, and engaging in pre-negotiation discussions to establish trust. 2. **Rules of Engagement During Peace Negotiations**: Recognizing the often chaotic nature of peace processes, attendees discussed essential factors for successful negotiations, including inclusivity, internal cohesion, power parity, unconditional dialogue, and effective third-party facilitation. 3. **Negotiating the Implementation of Peace Agreements**: Most groups are navigating post-agreement phases, facing unresolved state and peace-building issues. They advocated for enhanced international sup
This report seeks to address the question “what happens to protagonists for change once that change has been achieved?”, by analyzing the functional and organizational transformations of peace/human rights civil society organisations (CSOs) during, and after, peace processes and democratic transitions in South Africa and Guatemala.
This paper examines the driving factors and transitional stages of conflict transformation in protracted social conflicts, in order to generate more accurately focused criteria for the design, timing and nature of peacemaking and peacebuilding interventions. It successively presents the stages of transition from violence to peace, a systemic model of analysis of the drivers of escalatory and resolutionary change, and possible entry-points for peacemaking/peacebuilding intervention during each stage of the conflict resolution cycle.
This report summarises the discussions held at a Berghof seminar in September 2005, which brought together key peace and conflict research scholars to discuss their approaches to and debate current cutting-edge thinking and practice in the field of conflict transformation.
In diesem Buch wird argumentiert, dass Demokratien, die aus friedlichen Protesten hervorgegangen sind, länger bestehen, ein höheres Maß an demokratischer Qualität erreichen und mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit mindestens zwei friedliche Machtwechsel erleben als Demokratien, die aus gewaltsamem Widerstand oder einer Liberalisierung von oben hervorgegangen sind. Anhand von Fallstudien zur demokratischen Konsolidierung in Afrika und Lateinamerika kommt das Buch zu dem Ergebnis, dass gewaltfreier Widerstand einen integrativeren Übergangsprozess schafft, der langfristig widerstandsfähiger gegen den Zusammenbruch der Demokratie ist. Inhaltsverzeichnis Kapitel 1: Einleitung.- Kapitel 2: Theorie.- Kapitel 3: Statistische Analyse.- Kapitel 4: Mechanismen.- Kapitel 5: Annäherung an die Theorie.- Kapitel 6: Schlussfolgerung.
1. Acerca de este informe — 5 2. Resumen de los hallazgos claves – 6 3. Antecedentes – 8 3.1 Descripción del proyecto – 8 3.2 Casos — 9 3.3 Métodos — 9 4. Definiciones – 12 4.1 Procesos de transición hacia la seguridad – 12 4.2 Movimientos de Resistencia/Liberación – 13 5. Planteamiento del problema: ¿Terroristas o constructores de paz?– 15 5.1 Dilemas en torno a las relaciones con grupos armados no estatales post 11 de septiembre – 15 5.2 Riesgos y ventajas de las transiciones incluyentes — 18 6. Problemas fundamentales de los procesos de transición hacia la seguridad – 20 6.1 Manejo de la transición — 20 6.1.1 Los retos de una desmovilización prematura — 20 6.1.2 Lecciones aprendidas en el campo: Cómo mantener la cohesión en transiciones precarias en períodos de posguerra — 21 6.1.3 Recomendaciones — 23 6.2 Gestión del armamento — 24 6.2.1 Los retos del desarme en climas de inseguridad y desconfianza — 24 6.2.2 Lecciones aprendidas en el campo: garantías recíprocas de seguridad y construcción de confianza — 26 6.2.3 Recomendaciones — 29 6.3 Los excombatientes como promotores del cambio — 29 6.3.1 Los retos asociados a los programas de “reintegración” de combatientes — 30 6.3.2 Lecciones aprendidas en el campo: enfoques holísticos del retorno a la vida civil — 32 6.3.3 Recomendaciones — 36 6