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DDR and child soldiers
Ardigò, Caterina ; Garb, Maja (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
The object of this Master's thesis is to investigate the role of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of former child soldiers in the conflict of Sierra Leone. Even though extensive research has been carried out in the direct aftermath of the conflict, thus in the immediate subsequent years, few researchers focused on the long-term effects and effectiveness of the implementation of such programs. The first chapter examines the concept of peacebuilding, starting from its first definitions until the latest evolutions, the main actors, and the practices tied to it. The literature review concerning the various issues stemming from the experience of child soldiering is found in Chapter 2 of the thesis. Chapter 3 outlines the methodology we used to investigate our research question while Chapter 4 illustrates the analysis we conducted. The findings led to the conclusion that DDR programs are effective in the short-term, but this notion cannot be transposed into the long run. Thus, programs should include a long-term strategy focusing more on the psychological sphere of former combatants. Keywords Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, DDR, Child Soldiers, Sierra Leone, Reintegration Title DDR and Child Soldiers: Reintegration of Child Soldiers of the Sierra Leonian Conflict
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Rise of illiberal peace? Russian perspective on the sustainability of post-conflict arrangements
Žilka, Peter ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
The central idea of this master thesis is based on the recent normative contestation of the rules-based international order by authoritarian great powers such as Russia or China, whose activities are becoming more and more alarming. As the Western community since the end of the Cold War decided to take a big share of responsibility for the worldwide prevention and resolution of conflicts, their promotion of liberal values within peacebuilding frameworks nevertheless did not meet the set goals. Hence, academic debates recently engaged in the inquiry of alternative peacebuilding frameworks, including those that involved practices of illiberal actors. Consequently, this thesis focus on a qualitative analysis of Russian peacebuilding practices throughout its involvement in Tajikistan, Chechnya, Nagorno- Karabakh, and Syria. While looking for some possible overlapping with liberal practices, the analysis will primarily focus on technical processes of peacebuilding such as institution building and governance; security sector reform; and economic recovery. The overall finding demonstrate a fragile post-conflict environment based on dependency, ineffective governance, occasional re-emergence of violence or economic stagnation.
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Seeking Reconciliation between Georgia and Abkhazia: The Bottom-Up Approach since 2008
Salát, Patrik ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the reconciliation process between Georgia and Abkhazia after 2008. It focuses on the bottom-up approach to reconciliation and its potential for the transformation of protracted and unresolved conflict. As bilateral negotiations at the political level between Georgia and Abkhazia have been stuck since 2006, this approach may be the only tool to disrupt the current status quo. Nevertheless, the research results show that this potential is quite limited in Georgia. The current discourse about the conflict that supports the status quo is related to ethnic identity and is also supported internationally. Middle-range leaders who are a significant part of the civil peace process between Georgia and Abkhazia have attempted to disrupt this discourse. Still, even their willingness to compromise is limited by a myth-symbol complex. Moreover, participants in peace projects are not homogeneous groups that aim to disrupt the current discourse. The research results show that reconciliation outside the state level has contributed at least to the preservation of negative peace because its participants mostly avoid stereotypes, do not feel negative emotions towards the other side, and reject violence as a tool for conflict resolution.
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In between peacebuilding and counterterrorism. Critical evaluation of external interventionism in Mali in the context of lessons learned from Afghanistan
Anton, Lea Sophie ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
Bibliographic note Anton, L. S. (2021). In between peacebuilding and counterterrorism. Critical evaluation of external interventionism in Mali in the context of lessons learned from Afghanistan. [Unpublished master's thesis]. Charles University. Abstract This thesis is concerned with the core question of how to promote sustainable stability and peace through interventions in Mali. To limit the scope, the actors focused on are limited to the UN and EU. To answer the question, the learnings and insights form the intervention in Afghanistan are elaborated and applied to Mali to improve future intervention design. A small-n case study approach has been chosen to provide a thorough analysis of the development of peace and stability in each country. A Key Performance Indicators (KPI) based meta data analysis has been applied considering different theories of peace as well as stability. For the data relevant reports and indices are used. The analysis demonstrates that even though temporary and small-scale military goals are achieved over the duration of interventions, no sustainable or efficient progress towards peace and stability could be observed. Consequently, policies need to be adapted. Established hypotheses could be proven throughout the thesis. After the analysis, the international engagement in...
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Seeking Reconciliation between Georgia and Abkhazia: The Bottom-Up Approach since 2008
Salát, Patrik ; Brisku, Adrian (advisor) ; Horák, Slavomír (referee)
The diploma thesis deals with the reconciliation process between Georgia and Abkhazia after 2008. It focuses on the bottom-up approach to reconciliation and its potential for the transformation of protracted and unresolved conflict. As bilateral negotiations at the political level between Georgia and Abkhazia have been stuck since 2006, this approach may be the only tool to disrupt the current status quo. Nevertheless, the research results show that this potential is quite limited in Georgia. The current discourse about the conflict that supports the status quo is related to ethnic identity and is also supported internationally. Middle-range leaders who are a significant part of the civil peace process between Georgia and Abkhazia have attempted to disrupt this discourse. Still, even their willingness to compromise is limited by a myth-symbol complex. Moreover, participants in peace projects are not homogeneous groups that aim to disrupt the current discourse. The research results show that reconciliation outside the state level has contributed at least to the preservation of negative peace because its participants mostly avoid stereotypes, do not feel negative emotions towards the other side, and reject violence as a tool for conflict resolution.
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Women's peacebuilding civil society organisations and empowerment: A case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Novotná, Zuzana ; Bureš, Oldřich (advisor) ; Aslan, Emil (referee)
Women are underrepresented in politics and rarely included in official peace processes, therefore, they often mobilise in civil society. Moreover, the political empowerment of women continues to be understudied. The thesis looks into how women's peacebuilding civil society organisations engage in the political empowerment of women. To finds answers to the research question, five women's peacebuilding civil society organisations based in Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed through a conceptual framework of political empowerment. The organisations share the ideas of pacifism and gender equality. The research concludes that they engage in all dimensions of the conceptual framework but most significantly aim at increasing women's agency. The organisations provide women with a safe space to use their voices, share experiences, and create momentum. All the studied organisations fight gender-based violence and provide legal assistance to women. Membership in different networks and initiatives was identified as an important asset. The activities aiming at political empowerment and not directly stating the objective of peacebuilding can be perceived as such due to the positive link between gender equality and sustainable peace.
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Transforming conflict at the local level: Women peace mediators in Burundi
Vodičková, Anna ; Werkman, Kateřina (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Armed conflict affects men and women differently due to their previous roles in the society. For instance, it often crucially changes the status of women and enhances their emancipation. Therefore, women should be included in conflict resolution as well as in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction, to ensure sustainable peace. Examples from many African countries driven by conflict denote that women are not automatically included in these processes. This single intrinsic case study documents the work of women peace mediators in Burundi. At the theoretical level, the study argues for an elicitive endogenous approach to peacebuilding, embedded in the conflict transformation theory by John Paul Lederach. Nevertheless, theoretical concepts are not emphasized because they tend to limit the mediators' agenda which actually involves a wide range of conflict handling mechanisms. The main part of the study is based on semi-formal questionnaires filled out by women peace mediators in Bujumbura. The goal of the research is twofold: First, it is aimed to introduce the mediators and to understand their motivations to mediate. Second, it documents their everyday work by analysing official reports. The findings show that an "average" mediator is a married woman, with children, with at least secondary...
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The role of private security companies in conflict resolution in Africa
Volencová, Ivana ; Werkman, Kateřina (advisor) ; Ludvík, Zdeněk (referee)
This thesis concentrates on the topic of private military companies in the relation to their activities within conflict resolution in four selected African countries - Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte D'Ivoire. The main goal of this thesis is to chart their activities in three areas - within peacekeeping operations, in peacebuilding and within the efforts to maintain stability - and by comparison of collected data for each case study evaluate within which phase of conflict resolution they operate most frequently. At the same time the attempt of this thesis is to identify services that are desired most during conflict resolution process in Africa and examine the possibility that private military companies came through some changes since 1990. In order to gain relevant data for the comparison, technical texts and collected data analysis is being carried out. Keywords security, private military companies, privatization, peacekeeping, peacebuilding
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Challenges of Child DDR: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gajdošová, Marie Anna ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Svobodová, Karolina (referee)
This Master's thesis is devoted to the study of Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration programs for children formerly associated with armed groups. Its main task is to critically assess the implementation of child Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration programs, to identify the main challenges of these programs, and to provide recommendations for their future improvement. The theoretical part of the work focuses on the concept of child soldiers and the concept of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration. The work examines the case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo closely. It explores the history of the conflict, the history of using child soldiers, and the history of Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Furthermore, this work analyzes the phenomenon of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the challenges the current Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration programs are facing and provides recommendations for the Congolese government and for the international actors which are providing the Demobilization, Disarmament, and Reintegration programs for children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The work concludes that through the implementation of new policies on the national...
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Transforming conflict at the local level: Women peace mediators in Burundi
Vodičková, Anna ; Werkman, Kateřina (advisor) ; Plechanovová, Běla (referee)
Armed conflict affects men and women differently due to their previous roles in the society. For instance, it often crucially changes the status of women and enhances their emancipation. Therefore, women should be included in conflict resolution as well as in peace negotiations and post-conflict reconstruction, to ensure sustainable peace. Examples from many African countries driven by conflict denote that women are not automatically included in these processes. This single intrinsic case study documents the work of women peace mediators in Burundi. At the theoretical level, the study argues for an elicitive endogenous approach to peacebuilding, embedded in the conflict transformation theory by John Paul Lederach. Nevertheless, theoretical concepts are not emphasized because they tend to limit the mediators' agenda which actually involves a wide range of conflict handling mechanisms. The main part of the study is based on semi-formal questionnaires filled out by women peace mediators in Bujumbura. The goal of the research is twofold: First, it is aimed to introduce the mediators and to understand their motivations to mediate. Second, it documents their everyday work by analysing official reports. The findings show that an "average" mediator is a married woman, with children, with at least secondary...
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