This post is an exploration of another conflict risk-factor 'type'—Resource Scarcity and Unstable Economy. I talk about what conflict risk-factors are here, but just as a quick re-fresh, they're the things which increase a community's vulnerability to violent-conflict. They don’t directly spark violence, but they’re the dry kindling that so easily catches alight. I call … Continue reading In Focus: Resource Scarcity and Unstable Economy
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The Strength of Peace
ANZAC day is not long gone. I often find it a frustrating day, because despite focusing on war it often fails to reflect on what war really is. It can also have a very individualised approach to remembering, where any reflection on war as a whole is heard as dishonouring the suffering and sacrifice of … Continue reading The Strength of Peace
This is Why Prevention is Important
Why does it so often seem to be the case, that we don’t take peace seriously until war has started? There is much that could be said about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Indeed, it seems difficult to pin-point a focus area for a short blog post such as this. But to my mind, this … Continue reading This is Why Prevention is Important
In Focus: Inequality of Economic Access
In this blog, I talk a lot about conflict risk-factors, so I thought it would be worth-while exploring each of them in a bit more depth. Last post, I looked at inequality of political access. This week, I thought I'd focus on Inequality of Economic Access. The name might sound a little clunky, but I … Continue reading In Focus: Inequality of Economic Access
In Focus: Inequality of Political Access
I talk about conflict risk-factors quite a lot, because addressing them is the basis of Proactive Peace Work. So I thought it was about time that I explored these risk-factor types in more depth. In my research, I refer to 5 key types of risk-factor. Over the next few weeks, I'll discuss all of them, … Continue reading In Focus: Inequality of Political Access
What About Climate Change?
When high profile ‘climate events’ occur– be it Cop26, a particularly strong cyclone, or an especially harsh drought– we start to hear questions about how the changing, and increasingly unpredictable climate will affect our future. And when this happens, it is not uncommon to start to hear questions like: ‘will climate change make war more … Continue reading What About Climate Change?
Funding Peace
I’ve recently joined a local trust board. Their remit is to distribute funds to organisations and individuals engaged in peace work. Anyone joining this board is faced with the unavoidable question of what it means to fund peace work in the 21st century. There are two main sorts of work that we immediately think of … Continue reading Funding Peace
Why Prediction Isn’t Enough
‘If only we had known!’ It is a common enough phrase, ruing the ‘too little too late’ response to some sort of humanitarian crisis. We shake our heads at how often we hear it. But aside from the disheartened frustration the phrase engenders, it also reflects a common assumption in the world of international relations; … Continue reading Why Prediction Isn’t Enough
The Things We Don’t See
The things that don’t happen are important to understand. Disease outbreaks that don’t become pandemics, are important. So too are workplace injuries that don’t happen, and children not becoming malnourished. The wars that never start are important too. Disease, injuries, malnourishment and war are all influenced by human choices. Given this, it is fairly safe … Continue reading The Things We Don’t See
DIY Proactive Peace
Well, the first thing to remember is that Proactive Peace Work is probably already happening in your community, so it doesn’t need to be ‘invented’ in that sense. But maybe you want to tell the story of your community's action. Or maybe you’re looking for ways of improving your Proactive Peace. Or maybe you want … Continue reading DIY Proactive Peace