Chapter 12: Universal themes for conflict resolution

In the comprehensive report of the International Panel on Social Progress, drawing together the thinking of close to 270 scholars, Chapter 10 deals with conflicts in all the manifestations that have been discussed in this book: Rethinking Society for the 21st Century. Report of the International Panel on Social Progress. 2018. New York: Cambridge University Press, see www.ipsp.org

Gender equality

Elin Bjarnegård, Erik Melander, Gabrielle Bardal, Karen Brounéus, Erika Forsberg, Karin Johansson, Angela Muvumba Sellström and Louise Olsson, ‘Gender, Peace and Armed Conflict’, SIPRI Yearbook 2015. Oxford University Press, chapter 4.I. This article brings together a considerable number of aspects on the connections between gender equality and war, warfare, conflict resolution and other dimensions relating to conflict and peace. That includes work by Mary Caprioli 2000. ‘Gendered Conflict’, Journal of Peace Research, 37 (1): 53–68 and Erik Melander 2005. ‘Political Gender Equality and State Human Rights Abuse’, Journal of Peace Research, 42 (2): 149–66.

Indeed, these discussions have also led to new datasets, for example, D.K. Cohen and R. Nordås 2014. ‘Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict: Introducing the SVAC Dataset, 1989–2009’, Journal of Peace Research, 51 (3): 418–28.

An early work on the gender-peace nexus is Ann J. Tickner 1992. Gender in International Relations: A Feminist Perspective on Achieving Global Security. New York: Colombia University Press.

Genocide and terrorism

The following two articles can be of use when discussing pre- and post-genocide situations. First, Nicolas Rost 2013. ‘Will It Happen Again? On the Possibility of Forecasting the Risk of Genocide’,  Journal of Genocide Research, 15 (1): 41–67, which evaluates well-known models for predicting genocide. Second, Ervin Staub 2006. ‘Reconciliation After Genocide, Mass Killing, or Intractable Conflict: Understanding the Roots of Violence’, Psychological Recovery, and ‘Steps Toward a General Theory’, Political Psychology, 27 (6): 867–94 goes into the issues of post-genocide relations from a socio-psychological perspective.

The topic of terrorism has drawn a sizeable body of literature, notably on its causes, the recruitment into terrorist networks, the spreading and type of actions. The aftermath of terrorism has not received equal treatment. There is work on post-traumatic stress, but less on the societal conditions that could prevent the return of terrorism. Reading Charles H. Anderton and Jurgen Brauer 2021. ‘Mass Atrocities and Their Prevention’, Journal of Economic Literature, 59 (4): 1240–92 the origins are either in ‘failed states’ or in state-sponsored terrorism, pointing to political factors and legal measures that could prevent its rise. An example is Khusrav Gaibulloev and Todd Sandler 2019. ‘What We Have Learned About Terrorism Since 9/11’,  Journal of Economic Literature, 57 (2): 275–328. A follow-up, taking a broader perspective is Charles H. Anderton and Jurgen Brauer 2021. ‘Mass Atrocities and Their Prevention’, Journal of Economic Literature, 59 (4): 1240–92.