Akademie Greifswald
132
Arbeitsgruppe 5
Building Peace, Building States – A Liberal Agenda?
Leitung
Tina Blohm
Michael Leifer Scholar, London School of Economics,
former UN Political Affairs Officer, UN Mission to Afghanistan
Teilnehmer
Studierende aller Fächer
Since the end of the cold war, attempts to sustainably end conflicts and build peace ha-
ve been manifold. Yet, there is a growing realisation of the limits to what outside actors
can achieve in conflict-prone contexts. As importantly, interventions to build peace and
strengthen the state are increasingly perceived as a threat to national sovereignty by host
countries and new emerging powers. Finally, many controversies among academics and
practitioners focus on the liberal nature of these endeavours: the promotion of democra-
cy, market-based economic reforms, and key institutions as a driving force to build peace.
In this seminar, we want to first take a close look at the agenda: What is peacebuilding,
what is statebuilding and what is liberal about it? What are inherent dilemmas – for ex-
ample when it comes to holding first rounds of elections? Have we moved away from ‘one
size fits all’ to being context-sensitive? What causes local resistance to peace- and state-
building? And how can local ownership be achieved? In a second step, we then examine
approaches, developments and shifts by looking at various actors in four specific contexts:
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Libya, and Burundi.
Participants are key to the success of this seminar, as they will prepare and present in-
puts on specific topics. Secondly, we will welcome guest lecturers, who have either worked
in these contexts or analysed them. Lastly, documentary films will further stimulate our
discussions.
