Sustainable Peace [Paperback]

Connie Peck (Author), David A. Hamburg (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847685616 | ISBN-13: 978-0847685615 | Publication Date: February 1998

The end of the twentieth century saw the easing of East-West tension but not the end of violent conflict_especially within states. There has been growing consensus that the international community needs to find more effective ways of preventing such internal conflicts. This book argues that the most sustainable means of promoting peace within states is the development of good governance, which can address the root causes of conflict and meet basic human security needs. Good governance offers groups a 'voice' in resolving grievances at an early stage before they grow into major problems, safeguards human rights, and promotes a fairer distribution of resources. The author suggests that the focus of good international and regional governance should be the promotion of more effective national and local governance, and she outlines the efforts of the United Nations, regional organizations_such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of African Unity, and the Organization of American States_and NGOs, such as the Carter Center. The most successful approaches of these organizations could be applied through proposed Regional Centers for Sustainable Peace.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a vitally important contribution to the debate about preventive diplomacy, early responses to incipient violent conflict, and medium- to long-term peace-building and peacemaking processes. (Kevin P. Clements )

A thoroughly informative, indeed, a dazzling tour d'horizon of new regional actors in preventive diplomacy. (Doyle, Michael W. )

...containing as it does a wealth of valuable and interesting information for the student of conflict and conflict prevention. (Michael O'Connor Ethnic Conflict Research Digest )

Provides, first, a well-informed and down-to-earth macro-level analysis of the non-coercive conflict prevention mechanisms that are already operating in different parts of the world, and, secondly, a useful synthesis of those uncoordinated mechanisms in the form of a concrete institutional proposal. Peck should be congratulated for this valuable contribution to the conflict prevention literature. (Pacific Review )

This book is an instance of peace research, and a very good one, too. (Terrorism And Political Violence )

This is a very comprehensive survey of the existing organizations working to build sustainable peace. A network of interlocking institutions would indeed be an excellent way of building capacity and institutionalizing knowledge and practice of conflict prevention. (Otunnu, Olara A. )

About the Author

Connie Peck is coordinator of the Fellowship Program in Peacemaking and Preventive Diplomacy, which is cosponsored by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Peace Academy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847685616
• ISBN-13: 978-0847685615
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,793,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A review of the organizational school, March 14, 2001

By 

J. Rabideau (Stuck in the Loser State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sustainable Peace (Paperback)

Peck writes lucidly and with erudition, outlining the roles that myriad international organizations have played, or have capacity to play, in precipitating resolution to conflict. Of particular note and value is her focus upon mechanisms of function, rather than upon units of function. As organisations tend to redefine their roles upon a fairly frequent basis, Peck focuses instead upon what specific means of intervention seem to produce the greatest success. The only questionable aspect of this work is a marked tendency to view organizational interventions (by fairly large, significant actors: OSCE, OAU, OAS, UNDPKO) as really the only means by which conflict should be addressed, and peace built.

That aside, Peck's work provides a remarkable catalogue of the role that organisations have been able to fill, and offers insightful analysis into how more peaceful future outcomes may be provided for.