Book: Reimagining the Post-Conflict State

Reimagining the Post-Conflict State by Eric Budd, Bloomsbury Books.

At a time when conflict is causing such misery in the Middle East and Africa, what does it take to ensure that peace - if it comes - is durable, and not just a series of temporary ceasefires?

Eric Budd looks at peace agreements in Rwanda, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Bosnia. He suggests an imposed peace - one forced on the population by the victorious side, or by an outside power or agency such as the UN - is less likely to succeed than one resulting from inclusive negotiations in which everyone's voice is heard. How power is distributed in a society also matters. Whose version of recent history is accepted?

Budd concludes that it is essential for war-wracked societies to be able to reimagine themselves with a commonly accepted and shared narrative. Education is essential in this process, but it can be positive (as in the case of post-war West Germany) as well as negative, as in Bosnia, where there is no agreement about history.

"Memory becomes the battleground when fighting ends," Budd writes. "Silenced narratives do not disappear."

Real reconciliation involves dealing with the past, taking responsibility and acknowledging wrongdoing. This entails critical thinking, not always tolerated by those who hold power. Victims' voices must be heard nationally, Budd argues, and not just within their region.

The Dayton Agreement in Bosnia left different versions of history taught in schools where Muslims, Croats and Serbs do not mix. Budd quotes a Croat principal who would rather deprive Croat children of schooling than have them share computers with Muslims. Each group "coldly calculates how best to further their interests," and politicians are not accountable beyond a narrow ethnic/religious group.

The most positive example Budd examines is the Good Friday Agreement. Yet, fewer than 10% of children attend integrated schools. Although Northern Ireland incorporated social injustice and other inconvenient truths into the curriculum, Budd argues that no one is directly responsible for teaching the more controversial aspects of this shared history. Northern Ireland's great strength, he says, is the possibility that a referendum could lead to a different constitutional settlement.

The only quibble is regarding Germany, which Budd writes of as one tolerant nation. While post-war West Germans received re-education, emphasising the sins of the Third Reich (and ordinary Germans), those in East Germany did not. We see the consequences of that today with the popularity of the far-right political parties.

Reimagining the Post-Conflict State, Eric Budd. Publisher: Bloomsbury Books. Order HERE