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This volume explores how peacemakers can productively work with informal mini coalitions of states or intergovernmental organizations that provide support for resolving conflicts and implementing peace agreements—an innovation often referred to as groups of “Friends.” This handbook is part...

This handbook enhances the practice of mediation by showing how lessons from individual mediators can be identified and made available both to their organizations and to a wider practitioner audience. It also gives guidance to staff debriefing mediators who are or have been directly involved in...

A mediation initiative cannot be launched at just any time if it is to succeed. The conflict must be ripe for the initiation of negotiation. Parties resolve their conflict only when forced to do so, or when each party’s efforts to achieve a unilaterally satisfactory result are blocked and the...

Providing guidance on the mediation and negotiation aspects of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) programs, this toolkit lays out eight detailed steps that mediators can take to establish appropriate linkages between DDR and other aspects of a peace process. This handbook is part...

As broader peace efforts have faltered, the international community has increasingly focused on the capacity of local communities in Darfur to regulate conflict in their midst. This report examines the traditional justice system in Darfur and points to challenges facing traditional authorities, as...

Informal justice is an often debated yet poorly understood concept in Afghanistan. Generally, it refers to a series of mechanisms, such as local councils (shuras and jirgas), that are outside of the state’s direct control—though not necessarily beyond its influence and that are used to resolve...

A variety of technologies from cell phones and the Internet, to satellites and sensors are transforming the possibilities for ameliorating conflict and creating opportunities for peace building. Rapid increases in the availability and utility of various communications devices are creating new...

Pakistan will continue to find it difficult to counter militancy more vigorously in its territory, and U.S. officials urging the country to make greater efforts should fully understand the obstacles. One is the Pakistan security establishment’s penchant for supporting militant groups it believes...

Arming local defense forces in Afghanistan has had mixed and often perverse effects on the security of local populations, according to this study on the role and impact of the Afghan Local Police in three provinces. These findings suggest that, as international forces draw down, the ALP will...

Healthy eating and regular physical activity play a substantial role in preventing chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, and stroke, the three leading causes of death among adults aged >18 years (1–5). Poor diet and physical inactivity among younger persons can lead to an increased...