What is sustainable peacebuilding? And what is the relationship between empirical realities and theoretical approaches to the subject? The authors of Practical Approaches to Peacebuilding present a series of case studies from around the world to explore how various peacebuilding theories engage and interact with lived experiences, and also to elaborate useful new theoretical perspectives.    More >

In World War I, only 5 percent of all casualties were civilian; in World War II, that number was 50 percent; and in conflicts in the 1990s, civilians accounted for up to 90 percent of those killed. Clearly, the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians, while recognizing the changing face of war, has not succeeded in reversing the trend. Focusing particularly on the intrastate    More >

The result of a long collaboration between a Kenyan-Somali mediator and a Swiss scholar-practitioner, Mediation and Governance in Fragile Contexts introduces an innovative, practical approach to resolving an enduring issue: How can conflicts be resolved in polarized societies? This approach breaks out of the insider/outsider dichotomy to develop a framework for achieving peace in the most    More >

During times of civil conflict and war, why do some women turn to militant action while others seek peaceful resolutions? And why does the answer matter? Tackling these questions in their provocative analysis, Joyce Kaufman and Kristen Williams explore the full range of women's responses to armed struggles.     More >

Frustrated by the abrogation of promises by nuclear weapons states to disarm, countries that have foregone nuclear weapons joined forces with key members of civil society in efforts that culminated in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). How did this initiative succeed—in defiance of the major powers—in changing the discourse around nuclear weapons? What roles    More >

A Global Observatory Must-Read Book in Peace and Security! How do ordinary people, neither pacifists nor peace activists, come to decide collectively to eschew violent conflict and then develop strategies for maintaining their region as a nonwar area despite myriad pressures to the contrary? Mary Anderson and Marshall Wallace analyze the experiences of thirteen nonwar communities that made    More >

What would the work of conflict resolution look like if practitioners not only recognized that it is impossible for them to be neutral—and that there are dangers in believing otherwise—but also brought their whole selves to the negotiation table? Focusing on this question, the authors of Faith and Practice in Conflict Resolution introduce the work of pathbreaking individuals who    More >