Much of the best social science research—work that could lead to good policy—never leaves the academy. We’re here to make sure it does.
ThinkPeace explores the causes of conflict and the elements of good governance that make sustainable peace possible. Our monthly series has focused on topics such as how to improve UN peacekeeping, why dictators hold elections, and understanding the dynamics of migration throughout Africa. ThinkPeace also highlights One Earth Future's latest research on political violence; coup d’etat; the role of the private sector in peacebuilding; and women, peace, and security.
If you’d like to contribute a post, please email us at info@oneearthfuture.org.
Tactical, operational, and strategic intelligence is essential to successful peace operations. Understanding the situation on the ground allows peacekeepers a better chance of success by guiding deployments, force protection measures, and other crucial operational decisions. Peacekeepers must also understand the political and social contexts in order to serve as effective mediators.
Popular rhetoric paints refugees as a threat to their host countries. OEF Research examines the relationship and asks whether countries should refuse migrants in this second blog in our mixed migration series.
Empirical research shows that the presence of peacekeeping missions at or near full deployment significantly reduces violence against civilians. However, UN peacekeeping missions are often slow to deploy.
Mixed migration takes many forms, including climate- or conflict-induced displacement, economic migration, asylum-seeking, forced labor, smuggling, or human trafficking. This is the first of five blog posts looking at mixed migration from different governance angles.
Legitimacy and trust in government are important for peace. But what happens when this trust erodes? People’s perceptions are not always based on rational criteria. We are ripe for manipulation regardless of what kind of political system we live under.
Governing fairly is an essential element in creating peaceful societies. That’s what David Cortright, Conor Seyle, and Kristin Wall argue in their new book Governance for Peace. In peaceful societies, people rely on governance institutions to solve conflicts—they do not take up arms to fight their cause. Where people feel that government is just and where their voices are heard, they are less likely to rebel. But where governments are corrupt, or perceived as corrupt, the prospects for peace diminish.
Restoring security in conflict-affected territories is the fundamental first step towards peacebuilding. But, according to Paul Collier, high degrees of military spending are actually counter-productive to achieving peace and are associated with a heightened risk of war renewal.
The end of 2017 saw a massive online campaign that addressed sexual harassment and abuse. In fact, #MeToo provided a virtual space in which people could openly express what some of them had kept to themselves sometimes for decades. This kind of space, however, is virtually non-existent for male survivors of sexual violence in conflict. But their struggle is real.
Rebel groups, transnational criminal networks, and terrorist organizations exploit poor maritime governance to undermine political stability around the world.
Answering the question of why people rebel is central to understanding civil war. Research shows that civil wars and rebellion are neither driven by ancient hatreds between ethnic groups nor simply by opportunistic greed.
How will the FARC women fit into the very socioeconomic structure they have been fighting against for more than five decades?
Something happened in the American West over the past 200 years, part of a global trend. It used to be that when there were tensions between locals here—disagreements over water use, or mineral rights, or just feuds that went back and forth between families—eventually someone would be killed.
