The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies

Living Edition
| Editors: Oliver Richmond (Editor-in-Chief), Gëzim Visoka (Editor-in-Chief)

DR Congo: Local and International Peacebuilders’ Interaction

Living reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_137-1
How to cite

Abstract

The way local and international peacebuilders interact in a given conflict context is a crucial factor for understanding the success or failure of their efforts. However, most scholars have focused on either the local or the international side of the interaction. Authors focusing on local peacebuilders usually concentrate on civil society and its role in peacebuilding (e.g., Kanol 2010; Paffenholz 2010; Pouligny 2005). They assess different local peace initiatives and show that they can make an important contribution to peace (Call and Cook 2003; Haider 2009; Prendergast and Plumb 2002; Van Tongeren et al. 1999, 2005). However, they do not always provide an in-depth analysis of how these different local efforts interact with international peacebuilding programs. If they do, the focus is often limited to reflections on how international peacebuilders can best support local initiatives and less on how local peacebuilders can contribute to improving international programs (Donais 2012; Hoksbergen 2005). Other authors focus on international peacebuilders. As Call and Cook (2003) state, peace scholars often take it for granted to focus on international actors as the latter are assumed to have the lead in addressing conflict-affected contexts. This does not mean that they completely overlook local actors, but they rarely consider local actors as peacebuilders in their own right. Rather they focus on how international peacebuilders interact with the local population more broadly. This risks portraying local actors as “objects” rather than “subjects” of peacebuilding. In contrast to these previous studies, this entry underlines the importance of understanding the interaction between local and international peacebuilders as a central factor influencing the effectiveness of efforts to address armed conflicts. It first defines key terms and provides a review of the literature on local and international peacebuilders. It then presents insights from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) illustrating the importance of analyzing the interaction between local and international peacebuilders to understand the success or failure of their efforts.

Keywords

Peacebuilding Local peace Democratic Republic of Congo 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Abo Naser, M., Hellmüller, S., Hilal, L., Katkhouda, R., & Nagui, Y. (2016). Inside Syria: What local actors are doing for peace. Bern: swisspeace.Google Scholar
  2. Autesserre, S. (2009). Hobbes and the Congo: Frames, local violence, and international intervention. International Organization, 63(2), 249–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Autesserre, S. (2010). The trouble with the Congo: Local violence and the failure of international peacebuilding. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Autesserre, S. (2014). Peaceland: Conflict resolution and the everyday politics of international intervention. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Bächtold, S., Dittli, R., & Servaes, S. (2013). Help or hindrance? Results-orientation in conflict-affected situations. Bern: swisspeace.Google Scholar
  6. Barnett, M. (2006). Building a republican peace: Stabilizing states after war. International Security, 30(4), 87–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Barnett, M., Kim, H., O’Donnell, M., & Sitea, L. (2007). Peacebuilding: What is in a name? Global Governance, 13(1), 35–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Begby, E., & Burgess, J. P. (2009). Human security and liberal peace. Public Reason, 1(1), 91–104.Google Scholar
  9. Bellamy, A. J. (2004). The ‘Next Stage’ in peace operations theory? International Peacekeeping, 11(1), 17–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Bellamy, A. J. (2010). The institutionalisation of peacebuilding: What role for the UN peacebuilding commission? In O. Richmond (Ed.), Advances in peacebuilding: Critical developments and approaches (pp. 193–212). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Bellamy, A. J., & Williams, P. (2004). Introduction: Thinking anew about peace operations. International Peacekeeping, 11(1), 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Belloni, R. (2012). Hybrid peace governance: Its emergence and significance. Global Governance, 18(1), 21–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Borello, F. (2004). A first few steps – The long road to a just peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. New York: International Center for Transitional Justice.Google Scholar
  14. Boutros-Ghali, B. (1992). An Agenda for Peace: Preventive diplomacy, peacemaking and peace-keeping (A/47/277 – S/24111). New York: United Nations.Google Scholar
  15. Call, C. T., & Cook, S. E. (2003). On democratization and peacebuilding. Global Governance, 9(2), 233–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Carayannis, T. (2009). The challenge of building sustainable peace in the DRC. Geneva: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue.Google Scholar
  17. Chandler, D. (2010). The uncritical critique of ‘liberal peace’. Review of International Studies, 36(1), 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Chesterman, S. (2007). Ownership in theory and in practice: Transfer of authority in UN statebuilding operations. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 1(1), 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Chetail, V. (2009). Introduction: Post-conflict peacebuilding – Ambiguity and identity. In V. Chetail (Ed.), Post-conflict peacebuilding. A lexicon (pp. 1–33). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  20. Clark, J. F. (2002). The African stakes of the Congo wars. Kampala: Fountain Publisher.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Davis, L., & Hayner, P. (2009). Difficult peace, limited justice: Ten years of peacemaking in the DRC. New York: International Center for Transitional Justice.Google Scholar
  22. De Heredia, M. I. (2012). Escaping Statebuilding: Resistance and Civil Society in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 6(1), 75–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Donais, T. (2009a). Empowerment or imposition? Dilemmas of local ownership in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. Peace & Change, 34(1), 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Donais, T. (2009b). Inclusion or exclusion? Local ownership and security sector reform. Studies in Social Justice, 3(1), 117–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Donais, T. (2012). Peacebuilding and local ownership – post-conflict consensus building. London / New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Dunn, K. C. (2003). Imagining the Congo – The international relations of identity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  27. Eriksen, S. S. (2009). The liberal peace is neither: Peacebuilding, state building and the reproduction of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. International Peacekeeping, 16(5), 652–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Fetherston, B., & Nordstrom, C. (1995). Overcoming habitus in conflict management: UN peacekeeping and war zone ethnography. Peace & Change, 20(1), 94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Galtung, J. (1975). Three approaches to peace: Peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding. In J. Galtung (Ed.), Peace, war and defence – Essays in peace research (pp. 282–304). Copenhagen: Christian Ejlerw.Google Scholar
  30. Goetschel, L., & Hagmann, T. (2009). Civilian peacebuilding: Peace by bureaucratic means? Conflict, Security & Development, 9(1), 55–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Haider, H. (2009). Community-based approaches to peacebuilding in conflict-affected and fragile contexts. Birmingham: Governance and Social Development Resource Center.Google Scholar
  32. Hansen, A. S. (2008). Local ownership in peace operations. In T. Donais (Ed.), Local ownership and security sector reform (pp. 39–58). Berlin: Lit Verlag.Google Scholar
  33. Heathershaw, J. (2013). Towards better theories of peacebuilding: Beyond the liberal peace debate. Peacebuilding, 1(2), 275–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Hellmüller, S. (2014). Owners or partners? A critical analysis of the concept of local ownership. In S. Hellmüller & M. Santschi (Eds.), Is local beautiful? Peacebuilding between international interventions and locally led initiatives (pp. 3–14). Cham: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Hellmüller, S. (2018). Partners for peace: The interaction between local and international peacebuilding actors. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Helman, G. B., & Ratner, S. R. (1992). Saving failed states. Foreign Policy, 89(Winter, 1992-1993), 3–20.Google Scholar
  37. Hoksbergen, R. (2005). Building Civil Society through partnership: Lessons from a case study of the Christian reformed World Relief Committee. Development in Practice, 15(1), 16–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Ibrahim Abdi, D., & Mason, S. (2019). Small steps to peace: Mediation and governance in fragile contexts. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
  39. Jabri, V. (2010). War, government, politics: A critical response to the hegemony of the liberal peace. In O. Richmond (Ed.), Advances in peacebuilding: Critical developments and approaches (pp. 41–57). Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  40. Kanol, D. (2010). Civil society’s role in peace-building: relevance of the cypriot case. Journal of Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 9(1), 26–45.Google Scholar
  41. Kaplan, R. D. (1994). The coming anarchy. The Atlantic, 273(2).Google Scholar
  42. Kappler, S. (2015). The dynamic local: Delocalisation and (re-)localisation in the search for peacebuilding identity. Third World Quarterly, 36(5), 875–889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Lemarchand, R. (2001). The Democratic Republic of Congo: From collapse to potential reconstruction. Copenhagen: Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen.Google Scholar
  44. Lidén, K., Mac Ginty, R., & Richmond, O. P. (2009). Introduction: Beyond northern epistemologies of peace: Peacebuilding reconstructed? International Peacekeeping, 16(5), 587–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Mac Ginty, R. (2006). How did peace become order? Paper presented at the Pole Bernheim for peace and citizenship fifth anniversary conference, Université Libre de Bruxelles.Google Scholar
  46. Mac Ginty, R. (2008a). Indigenous peace-making versus the liberal peace. Cooperation and Conflict, 43(2), 139–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Mac Ginty, R. (2008b). Traditional and indigenous approaches to peacemaking. In J. Darby & R. M. Ginty (Eds.), Contemporary peacemaking. Conflict, peace processes and post-war reconstruction (pp. 120–130). Houndmills/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
  48. Mac Ginty, R. (2010). Hybrid peace: The interaction between top-down and bottom-up peace. Security Dialogue, 41(4), 391–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Mac Ginty, R. (2011a). Hybrid peace: How does hybrid peace come about? In S. Campbell, D. Chandler, & M. Sabaratnam (Eds.), A Liberal peace? The problems and practices of peacebuilding (pp. 209–225). London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
  50. Mac Ginty, R. (2011b). Hybridity and hybridisation: Beyond top-down meets bottom-up. Paper presented at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute Manchester/Bradford Seminar.Google Scholar
  51. Mac Ginty, R. (2011c). International peacebuilding and local resistance: Hybrid forms of peace. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Mac Ginty, R., & Richmond, O. P. (2013). The local turn in peace building: A critical agenda for peace. Third World Quarterly, 34(5), 763–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  53. Millar, G. (2014). Respecting complexity: Compound friction and unpredictability in peacebuilding. In A. Björkdahl, K. Höglund, G. Millar, J. Van der Lijn, & W. Verkoren (Eds.), Peacebuilding and friction: Global and local encounters in post-conflict societies (pp. 32–47). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  54. Mongo, E., Nkoy Elela, A. D., & van Puijenbroek, J. (2009). Conflits fonciers en Ituri – Poids du passé et défis pour l’avenir de la paix. Bunia: IKV Pax Christi.Google Scholar
  55. Nagelhus Schia, N., & Karlsrud, J. (2012). Contextualizing peacebuilding activities to local circumstances. Oslo: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs – Department of Security and Conflict Management.Google Scholar
  56. Nest, M., Grignon, F., & Kisangani, E. (2006). The Democratic Republic of Congo. Economic dimensions of War and Peace. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
  57. Newman, E., Paris, R., & Richmond, O. (2009). Introduction. In E. Newman, R. Paris, & O. Richmond (Eds.), New perspectives on liberal peacebuilding (pp. 3–25). Tokyo/New York: United Nations University Press.Google Scholar
  58. Ottaway, M. (2003). Promoting democracy after conflict: The difficult choices. International Studies Perspectives, 4(3), 314–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.-a.). Information. In Lexico.com dictionary, Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://www.lexico.com/definition/information
  60. Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.-b). Knowledge. In Lexico.com dictionary, Retrieved June 1, 2020, from https://www.lexico.com/definition/knowledge.
  61. Paffenholz, T. (2010). What civil society can contribute to peacebuilding. In T. Paffenholz (Ed.), Civil society and peacebuilding (pp. 381–404). Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
  62. Paris, R. (2002). International peacebuilding and the ‘Mission Civilisatrice’. Review of International Studies, 28(4), 637–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Paris, R. (2004). At War’s end: Building peace after civil conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Paris, R. (2011). Critiques of Liberal peace. In S. Campbell, D. Chandler, & M. Sabaratnam (Eds.), A Liberal peace?: The problems and practices of peacebuilding (pp. 31–51). London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
  65. Paris, R., & Sisk, T. (2007). Managing contradictions: The inherent dilemmas of postwar Statebuilding. New York: International Peace Academy.Google Scholar
  66. Pouligny, B. (2005). Civil society and post-conflict peacebuilding: Ambiguities of international Programmes aimed at building ‘New’ societies. Security Dialogue, 36(4), 495–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Pouligny, B. (2009). Local ownership. In V. Chetail (Ed.), Post-conflict peacebuilding. A lexicon (pp. 174–187). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  68. Prendergast, J., & Plumb, E. (2002). Building local capacity: From implementation to peacebuilding. In S. J. Stedman, D. Rothchild, & E. M. Cousens (Eds.), Ending civil wars (pp. 327–349). Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
  69. Prunier, G. (2008). Africa’s world war: Congo, the Rwandan genocide, and the making of a continental catastrophe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  70. RCN Justice & Démocratie. (2009). Les conflits fonciers en Ituri: de l’imposition à la consolidation de la paix. Bruxelles: RCN Justice et Démocratie.Google Scholar
  71. Reich, H. (2006). Local ownership’ in conflict transformation projects: Partnership, participation or patronage? (27). Berlin: Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management.Google Scholar
  72. Reyntjens, F. (2007). Democratic Republic of Congo: Political transition and beyond. African Affairs, 106(423), 307–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Reyntjens, F. (2009). The great African war: Congo and regional geopolitics, 1996–2006. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Richmond, O. (2004a). The globalization of responses to conflict and the peacebuilding consensus. Cooperation and Conflict, 39(2), 129–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Richmond, O. (2004b). UN peace operations and the dilemmas of the peacebuilding consensus. International Peacekeeping, 11(1), 83–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  76. Richmond, O. (2009). Liberal peace transitions: A rethink is urgent. http://www.opendemocracy.net/oliver-p-richmond/liberal-peace-transitions-rethink-is-urgent
  77. Richmond, O. (2012). The dilemmas of a hybrid peace. http://www.e-ir.info/2012/12/23/the-dilemmas-of-a-hybrid-peace/,
  78. Richmond, O., & Mitchell, A. (2012). Hybrid forms of peace from everyday agency to post-liberalism. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  79. Roberts, D. (2008). Post-conflict statebuilding and state legitimacy: From negative to positive peace? Development and Change, 39(4), 537–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Rogier, E. (2004). The peace process in the DRC: A reader. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.Google Scholar
  81. Rouw, H., & Willems, R. (2010). Connecting community security and DDR: Experiences from Eastern DRC. Utrecht: Network for Peace, Security and Development.Google Scholar
  82. Sabaratnam, M. (2011). The Liberal peace? An intellectual history of international conflict management, 1990–2010. In S. Campbell, D. Chandler, & M. Sabaratnam (Eds.), A Liberal peace? The problems and practices of peacebuilding (pp. 13–30). London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
  83. Samset, I., & Madore, Y. (2006). Evaluation of the UNDP/UNOPS peacebuilding and community development project in Ituri, the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bergen: CMI Chr. Michelsen Institute.Google Scholar
  84. Sending, O. J. (2009). Why peacebuilders fail to secure ownership and be sensitive to context. Oslo: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.Google Scholar
  85. Smirl, L. (2008). Building the other, constructing ourselves: Spatial dimensions of international humanitarian response. International Political Sociology, 2(3), 236–253.Google Scholar
  86. Smith, D. (2004). Towards a strategic framework for peacebuilding: Getting their act together. Oslo: International Peace Research Institute.Google Scholar
  87. Tadjbakhsh, S. (2010). Human security and the legitimisation of peacebuilding. In O. Richmond (Ed.), Advances in peacebuilding: Critical developments and approaches (pp. 116–136). Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  88. Tadjbakhsh, S. (2011). Rethinking the liberal peace: External models and local alternatives. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  89. Tull, D. M. (2009). Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Waging peace and fighting war. International Peacekeeping, 16(2), 215–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  90. Turner, T. (2007). The Congo wars: Conflict, myth and reality. London: Zed Books Ltd.Google Scholar
  91. Van Brabant, K. (2010). Peacebuilding how? Broad local ownership. Geneva: Interpeace.Google Scholar
  92. Van Leeuwen, M. (2009). Partners in peace: Discourses and practices of civil-society peacebuilding. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
  93. Van Tongeren, P., Brenk, M., Hellema, M., & Verhoeven, J. (Eds.). (1999). People building peace: 35 inspiring stories from around the world. Utrecht: European Centre for Conflict Prevention.Google Scholar
  94. Van Tongeren, P., Brenk, M., Hellema, M., & Verhoeven, J. (Eds.). (2005). People building peace II: Successful stories of civil society. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.Google Scholar
  95. Van Woudenberg, A. (2004). Ethnically targeted violence in Ituri. In M. Malan & J. G. Porto (Eds.), Challenges of peace implementation: The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (pp. 189–207). Pretoria: ISS.Google Scholar
  96. Veit, A. (2010). Intervention as indirect rule: Civil war and statebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Frankfurt/New York: Campus Verlag.Google Scholar
  97. Verkoren, W., & Van Leeuwen, M. (2014). The imagined agent of peace: Frictions in peacebuilding through civil society strengthening. In A. Björkdahl, K. Höglund, G. Millar, J. Van der Lijn, & W. Verkoren (Eds.), Peacebuilding and friction: Global and local encounters in post-conflict societies (pp. 103–119). London/New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  98. Vircoulon, T. (2005a). Ambiguïtés de l’intervention internationale en République démocratique du Congo. Politique Africaine, 2(98), 79–95.Google Scholar
  99. Vircoulon, T. (2005b). L’Ituri ou la guerre au pluriel. Afrique contemporaine, 215(3), 129–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  100. Vircoulon, T. (2010). The Ituri paradox: When armed groups have a land policy and peacemakers do not. In C. A. W. Anseeuw (Ed.), The struggle over land in Africa: Conflicts, politics & change (pp. 209–219). Cape Town.Google Scholar
  101. Vlassenroot, K., & Raeymaekers, T. (2004). The politics of rebellion and intervention in Ituri. The emergence of a new political complex? African Affairs, 103(412), 385–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  102. Von Billerbeck, S. B. K. (2016). Whose peace? Local ownership and UN peacebuilding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  103. Von Einsiedel, S. (2005). Policy responses to state failure. In S. Chesterman, M. Ignatieff, & R. Thakur (Eds.), Making states work: State failure and the crisis of governance (pp. 13–35). New York: United Nations University Press.Google Scholar
  104. Zahar, M.-J. (2012). Norm transmission in peace- and statebuilding: Lessons from democracy promotion in Sudan and Lebanon. Global Governance, 18(1), 73–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  105. Zaum, D. (2006). The authority of international administrations in international society. Review of International Studies, 32(3), 455–473.Google Scholar
  106. Zaum, D. (2012). Beyond the ‘Liberal Peace’. Global Governance, 18(1), 121–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Centre on Conflict, Development and PeacebuildingGraduate Institute of International and Development StudiesGenevaSwitzerland

Section editors and affiliations

  • Jasmin Ramovic
  • Liridona Veliu
    • 1
  1. 1.School of Law and GovernmentDublin City UniversityDublinIreland