‘Preventing Crises, Resolving Conflicts, Building Peace’ are key challenges for Germany’s and Europe’s evolving international role. Berlin is investing in the field, both financially and conceptually. On this blog, we discuss how to target these investments towards better crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding. Most contributions are in German, but we occasionally ask international experts for their views. This section collects contributions in English. You are warmly invited to join the discussion: Subscribe to our weekly email-updates (in German), share and comment on posts on social media (@PeaceLabBlog, #PeaceLab), read our summary of the preceding “PeaceLab2016” debate or send us an email at peacelab@gppi.net.
Veranstaltungsbericht Learning to Prevent Conflict: Workshop on Early Warning and Early Action On January 30, 2019, the African Union Peace and Security Commission in Addis Ababa hosted a one-day PeaceLab workshop on African and European lessons on early warning and early action. The German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier joined the workshop for a “fishbowl discussion.” PeaceLab editorial team • 08. Februar 2019
Artikel Any “One-Size-Fits-All” Approach to Transitional Justice is Doomed to Fail The African Union’s transitional justice policy development process shows that a society’s context determines timing and sequencing of any transitional justice measure. Thus, the German government should prioritize collaboration with African actors in order to design effective and context-specific policies. Also, it is important that the strategy includes provisions for its implementation. Annah Moyo • 20. Dezember 2018
Artikel Rule of Law and Digital Justice: Scaling Alibaba and eBay Top-down capacity building measures in rule of law are inefficient and may lead to illegitimate results. Germany should rather open pathways promoting user-friendly access to justice. One way would be through technology, as Alibaba and eBay are already offering it to millions of unhappy costumers. Experts commissioned by the Foreign Office in Berlin recently developed fresh ideas; now it’s time to realise them. Adeel Hussain • 14. Februar 2019
Artikel Activating the Five Powers of Law Some methods of rule of law promotion, such as support for the development of new legislation, frequently lead to disappointing results. The reason for this is that partner states such as Germany only focus on one of the many different powers of the law and do not pay attention to activating the full range of its powers. German ministries should take a careful look at the methodologies of their implementing agencies and “activate” all the powers of the law. Miranda Forsyth • 13. Februar 2019
Artikel Rule of Law Promotion in Islamic Environments: A Call for True Dialogue Western countries have an unspoken suspicion that violent extremism is rooted in Islam as a religion. However, the necessary precondition of rule of law assistance is a profound, unprejudiced understanding of these societies’ legal and moral traditions. Thus, the German government should openly enter in a respectful dialogue, particularly with unfamiliar and possibly even uncomfortable partners, to learn and to address their concerns. Siraj Khan, Patrick Schneider • 07. Februar 2019
Artikel Transitional Justice: PeaceLab blog a huge enrichment for the German government’s strategy In this PeaceLab blog we had asked you to share with us your ideas, suggestions and key questions with regard to a joint ministerial strategy on dealing with the past and reconciliation. We received more than 30 contributions. We now intend to review your proposals in preparation for formulating the strategy. Stefan Oswald • 20. Dezember 2018
Artikel A Road Map for Germany: Negotiating a Path to Accountability with Assad Germany should make accountability a condition for its reconstruction aid for Syria: It should demand the handing over of the top five senior leaders of the Syrian government to face justice. In addition, Germany and others should pool their extra-territorial jurisdiction through a treaty process and create an ‘international criminal tribunal for Syria’. Melinda Rankin • 18. Dezember 2018
Artikel The Youth is Cambodia’s Only Hope for Social Reconciliation In Cambodia, there is no political will for a broad national reconciliation program, and the Khmer Rouge tribunal is too removed from people’s lives. Thus, transitional justice strategies should focus on social and emotional reconciliation through public institutions such as peace museums. What’s more, they should focus on and develop the leadership skills of young people. Soth Plai Ngarm, Emma Leslie • 17. Dezember 2018
Artikel Tapping Into the Transformative Potential of Collective Reparations Acknowledging the collective dimensions of victimization includes different narratives into a post-conflict societies’ discourse on peace and reconciliation, which can foster a transformative dynamic. Thus, the German Government should invest in research on collective reparations’ potential as leverage in peace processes and provide assistance on their participatory and well-coordinated implementation. Johanna Lober • 17. Dezember 2018
Artikel The Failure of Top-Down Approaches to Transitional Justice: What Iraqis and Syrians Teach Us Too often, the international community has been oblivious to the immediate needs of victims and communities in Iraq and Syria. Victims’ and civil society’s participation in transitional justice processes is therefore essential to a successful, inclusive, and comprehensive provision of justice. The German government should learn from local actors and empower them to actively participate in transitional justice efforts. Habib Nassar • 13. Dezember 2018
Artikel How to Unify the European Union: The View from Italy The European Union is divided. To overcome this, the EU should redefine its internal positions to be able to represent its interests more coherently in the Security Council. In this regard, Germany’s commitment to the Europeanization of its seat could play a vital role. The German government should form strategic alliances to merge EU stances. Silvia Francescon • 13. Dezember 2018
Artikel People and Politics: Fostering the Art of Conflict Prevention Researchers and practitioners should pay greater attention to the human beings at the center of conflict politics. Gerrit Kurtz, Christoph Meyer • 11. Dezember 2018
Artikel The Promises and Pitfalls of Comprehensive Transitional Justice: The Colombian Case Colombia´s peace process has set in motion one of the world’s most ambitious and holistic transitional justice projects. While the new institutions remain at the core of political controversy, the backing of the international community has proven vital. Germany has the expertise and credibility to assist the process and should pay more attention to capacity building in civil society at local and regional levels. Christian Völkel • 05. Dezember 2018
Artikel Shaping the Future of Civilian Crisis Management Almost unnoticed by the wider public, the EU has taken a landmark decision to make its civilian crisis management more capable, flexible and responsive. However, important commitments in the “Civilian CSDP Compact” remain vague. As a strong supporter of civilian CSDP, Germany should push for further ambitious steps to be made concrete. Carina Böttcher, Marie Wolf • 28. November 2018
Artikel Supporting Transitional Justice in Fragile Environments: Lessons from Iraq Post-ISIS The Iraqi case demonstrates the impediments to transitional justice efforts in fragile, post-conflict environments. To support these efforts, Germany should provide technical assistance; seek out reliable, influential government partners; strike a balance between the sometimes divergent outcomes of state-building, democratization and transitional justice processes; and find effective pathways that harness traditional justice mechanisms. Osama Gharizi • 22. November 2018
Artikel There Are More Than Victims and Former Combatants In transitional justice contexts, court verdicts often do not enjoy universal acceptance. Thus, Germany should promote the interplay between judicial and non-judicial mechanisms to increase trust in the judgements. Also, the German approach has to overcome the binary of victims and perpetrators and foster the public participation of a much broader spectrum of actors in transitional justice processes. Ljubinka Petrovic-Ziemer • 21. November 2018
Artikel Adopt a Stance, Not Just Mechanisms The rapid success of transitional justice led to blue-printing mechanisms without adequate consideration of context. The German government should think of transitional justice not only as a set of mechanisms, but also as a stance to any activity in any field it supports in transitional societies. Thus, the government should ensure past-sensitivity in all interventions it pursues in post-conflict or post-authoritarian contexts. Alexander Mayer-Rieckh • 15. November 2018
Artikel Choose your partner wisely: regional actors in crisis management Crisis management can only succeed with regional partners: so far, so true – but insufficient. Regional hegemons rarely deliver official German hopes to be “anchors of stability”, and regional organizations are rarely neutral, legitimate and effective at the same time. Still, regional cooperation has great peacekeeping potential if pursued more strategically. Ingo Henneberg • 09. November 2018
Artikel A Europeanized German Security Council Seat: How Berlin’s Actions Can Live Up to Its Words Merkel and Maas announced ambitious goals for “Europeanizing” the German seat on the UN Security Council. To avoid disappointing its closest partners, Berlin needs to find more inclusive ways of leading on both thematic and crisis-specific issues – and possibly sacrifice some of its own priorities. Noémi Blome, Theresa Lütkefend • 01. November 2018
Artikel Plural Justice: A Holistic Approach to Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding Transitional justice processes often are too narrow and technocratic. Restorative and retributive justice alone may not lead to a stable peace, because it does not resolve underlying grievances that led to violent conflict. Therefore, transitional justice should incorporate conflict resolution, civil rights and participation, as well as socioeconomic and redistributive justice to address historical marginalization. Lisa Laplante • 31. Oktober 2018
Artikel It’s the Economic and Social Rights, Stupid! Transitional justice cannot prevent the recurrence of human rights violations if it does not address economic and social rights violations. For Germany’s transitional justice strategy this means: first, do not privilege criminal prosecution; second, provide technical assistance to local actors; third, become a voice for exploring and implementing remedies for economic and social rights violations. Ruben Carranza • 24. Oktober 2018
