Description

The literature on liberal peacebuilding has shown that what the international community thinks of peace is a very specific thing drawn from the Western context, which is linked to the development of the idea of the liberal peace: the idea that economic and political liberalisation create conditions for lasting peace in war-torn societies. Yet, the concept of peace is not a universal one.

Academic dialogue on peace-making and peacebuilding from different regions of the world is continuing to bring to fore localised views and experiences to the peacebuilding dialogue. Some of these reflect on inclusive engagement of the marginalised groups in peacemaking, indigenous perspectives on peace and peacemaking and local experiences of various regions. Explicitly or implicitly normative perspectives are always present in the different peacemaking perspectives.

Furthermore, amid the transition from unipolar to multipolar world of politics, there are some budding yet interesting shifts that are likely to bring transformations to the understanding and the norms of peace and peacebuilding across the globe. Among many shifts, these include changes in terms of the key global actors, and a shift away from traditional donors as new donors have emerged. All of these changes bring with them new interests, opportunities, and challenges in the understanding of peace, peacemaking and peacebuilding.