Rethinking Peace in Turbulent Times

Abstract

With considerable flux in the peace and conflict landscape, scholars, policymakers, practitioners and publics alike are scrambling to understand emerging realities. Moreover, a sometimes slow academic publishing cycle means that much material appearing in academic journals seems already outdated – reporting on a peace and conflict landscape as though we are still in an era of comprehensive peace processes and peace accords. What does the emerging peace landscape look like? What are the main trends in contemporary peacemaking, and what are their implications for the study of peace and conflict? Is there a way back for the United Nations as a leading peace actor? Drawing on the recently published Peacebuilding roundtable, “Rethinking Peace in Turbulent Times: Perspectives from Six Scholars,” this seminar gathers leading thinkers to explore these urgent questions. Their insights will frame our discussions in this seminar and its continuation in March.