Peaceland suggests a new explanation for why international peace interventions often fail to reach their full potential. Based on several years of ethnographic research in conflict zones around the world, it demonstrates that everyday elements – such as the expatriates’ social habits and usual approaches to understanding their areas of operation – strongly influence peacebuilding effectiveness.
Individuals from all over the world and all walks of life share numerous practices, habits, and narratives when they serve as interveners in conflict zones. These common attitudes and actions enable foreign peacebuilders to function in the field, but they also result in unintended consequences that thwart international efforts. Certain expatriates follow alternative modes of thinking and doing, often with notable results, but they remain in the minority. Through an in-depth analysis of the interveners’ everyday life and work, this book proposes innovative ways to better help host populations build a sustainable peace.
Read the opening pages of the book or download the first chapter.
Reviews
Visit the Cambridge University Press website for endorsements, customer reviews, etc.
Reviews of the Book in Scholarly Journals
- African Affairs
- African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review
- Cambridge Review of International Affairs
- Choice
- Desafíos
- Etudes Internationales (in French)
- European Review of International Studies
- Global Governance
- H-Diplo Roundtable (an introduction, four reviews, and my author’s response)
- International Affairs
- International Feminist Journal of Politics
- International Peacekeeping
- J-Stage (in Japanese)
- Journal of Development Studies
- Journal of Global Security Studies
- Journal of International Organizations Studies
- Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding
- Leonardo Reviews
- Peace and Change
- Peace Review
- Perspectives on Politics
- Politique Etrangère
- Politique Africaine (forthcoming)
- Political Science Quarterly
- Political Studies Review
- Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana (in Spanish)
- Revue Française de Science Politique (in French)
- Sociologie du Travail (in French)
- Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
Reviews of the Book in Policy Journals and on various Blogs
- African Arguments: reviews by Christoph Vogel and Michael Deibert
- Anarchapistemology
- Anthropoliteia
- Anthropology and Practice (in Spanish)
- Barnard Magazine
- D+C Development and Cooperation (p. 38)
- Dr Samuel Mahaffy: Inspiring Hope and Awakening Possibility
- International Peace Institute’s Global Observatory
- International Rescue Committee
- Janoschkullenberg: A Blog on People, Conflict, and Intervention
- Times Higher Education
- University of Navarra’s Center for International Development
- Wandering Educators
- Wronging Rights
Op Eds and Media Reports on the Book
- Interview on BBC World (starts at 26’30)
- Interview on Deutsche Welles
- Op Ed in the Washington Post‘s Monkey Cage blog
- Interview in Foreign Policy Interrupted
- Interview for USIP Academy
- Interview on Radio France Internationale (in French)
- Interview on Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (dubbed in Portuguese; starts at 34′)
- Interview for International Peace Institute’s Global Observatory
- Interview for CIGI’s Inside the Issues
- Interview in Global Peace Operations Review
- Q&As in the Duck of Minerva
- Interview in Cicero Magazine
- Interview on Barnard’s website
- Interview on Europea Media
- Author’s interview with Cambridge University Press
- Interview with Insight on Conflict
Videos & Podcasts of Academic and Policy Talks on the Book
- Pop-up talk: Future of War conference
- “TED talk” version of the book: International Peace Institute
- TV Show: Global Ethics Forum
- Podcast: Oxford University
- Podcast: London School of Economics
- Public lecture: Columbia University
- Public lecture: Carnegie Council
- Webinar: World Vision International
- Seminar: Nordic Africa Institute