New Paths and Policies towards Conflict Prevention

This book explores the discourse on conflict prevention and peacebuilding by bringing together researchers from China and Switzerland over a series policy dialogues. The Charter of the United Nations, adopted in the immediate aftermath of World War II, is clear about the fundamental necessity for the international community to act in partnership to prevent violent conflict. Given recent shifts in global power dynamics, there is an apparent need for international policy issues to be addressed in ways that are inclusive of a wider variety of perspectives and approaches. Chinese policy actors are increasingly interested in fostering their own discourse on issues of prevention and peacebuilding, rooted in Chinese experience, and engaging with peers from other contexts. The chapters in this volume explore the rationale for conflict prevention and review prevailing academic and practitioner discourses on fundamental questions such as the rationales for why conflicts should be prevented and whether 'mainstream approaches' are still relevant. This book will be of interest to students of peacebuilding, conflict resolution, Chinese politics, and International Relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/New-Paths-and-Policies-towards-Conflict-Prevention-Chinese-and/Fung-Gehrmann-Madenyika-Tower/p/book/9780367683368, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Courtney J. Fung is Assistant Professor of International Relations at The University of Hong Kong. Björn Gehrmann is a German Diplomat and Mediator, who worked for the Human Security Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs from 2017 to 2019. Rachel F. Madenyika is UN Representative at the Quaker United Nations Office in New York, USA. Jason G. Tower directs the Burma program of the United States Institute of Peace (Formerly Southeast Asia Regional Advisor, PeaceNexus Foundation, Yangon).

Introduction: Understanding Conflict Prevention in the Shifting Global Context Rachel F. Madenyika and Jason Tower Part I: The Broader Norms of Prevention and Building Peace 1. How to sustain peace? A review of the scholarly debate Björn Gehrmann 2. Political Violence Prevention: Definitions and Implications Stephanie C. Hofmann 3. A Tale of Two 'Peaces': Peacebuilding in the Twenty-First Century: Liberal Peace, Developmental Peace and Peacebuilding Yin He 4. How to Curb Conflict: Policy Lessons from the Economic Literature Dominic Rohner Part II: Approaches to Preventing Conflict 5. The Deep Roots of Swiss Conflict Prevention David Lanz 6. Considerations for the Design and Preparation of National Dialogue Processes Katia Papagianni 7. China and Mediation: Principles and Practice Tiewa Liu Part III: Opportunities for Peace? 8. How to Understand the Peacebuilding Potential of the Belt and Road Initiative Dongyan Li 9. Security Sector Reform and Conflict Prevention Albrecht Schnabel 10. 'A Community of Shared Future for Mankind' and Implications for Conflict Prevention Guihong Zhang Conclusion: Future Collaborative Efforts to Prevent Conflict Rachel F. Madenyika and Jason Tower