Programme de bourses "Jeunes Chercheurs"
In the Name of Peace International Donor Agendas and the Effectiveness of Peacebuilding in Lebanon
Sibylle Stamm, Doctoral Researcher
Post-conflict peacebuilding has markedly gained momentum as a key element in conflict prevention since the groundbreaking United Nations “Agenda for Peace” in 1992. Yet, two decades of experimenting with various initiatives in post-conflict societies have produced mediocre results. In fact, widespread concerns prevail that international agencies operating in conflict-prone areas such as Lebanon contribute to strengthening detrimental structures that perpetuate conflict and “aid violence” instead of preventing it. In this regard, Lebanon’s highly volatile and polarized conflict context constitutes a dangerous minefield for international peacebuilders. Recent studies revealed that international agencies operating in Lebanon easily fall prey to political manipulation, risk becoming partial actors in the unfolding post-war conflict setting and contribute to deepening the country’s internal divisions. Against this background, this doctoral research project aims to examine the impact the international community’s peacebuilding interventions have on the conflict dynamics in post-war Lebanon.
In the course of a doctoral research project, this pilot study investigated the predicament of building peace in the context of violent conflicts that have occurred in Lebanon since 2005. It exemplarily extracted key findings from an analysis of peacebuilding interventions in the Lebanese Palestinian context that have been of considerable magnitude.
Peacebuilding is either politically motivated or irrelevant. Such is the broad consensus of local perception and academic research on peacebuilding in Lebanon. Preliminary analysis suggests that the poor reputation and lack of effectiveness of peacebuilding are largely due to two reasons. First, there are concerns that peacebuilding is designed and implemented from the perspective of international donors’ security agendas for the Middle East. Drawing on recent academic research, the study concluded that international donors seem to have emerged as protecting powers for local constituencies following the Lebanese general elections in 2005. Since then, interventions ‘in the name of peace’ are conducted with a view to stabilizing or shifting the local political power balance according to outside interests. This donor divide and the resulting lack of credibility is the background against which most international assistance, but most significantly post-war reconstruction and civilian peacebuilding, has been conducted over the past five years. Secondly, while civilian peacebuilding ‘from below’ predominantly focuses on dialogue and capacity building for non-violent conflict resolution, the effectiveness of such interventions is compromised by who they are and how they are perceived, rather than what they do. In light of powerful international donor interests, civilian peacebuilding often fails to create vertical linkages and rarely manages to address the core drivers of conflict.Addresses
Doctoral Researcher Email: sibylle.stamm@gmail.com |
Partner Institution Lebanon: |
Partner Institution Switzerland: Phone: +41 (0)31 330 12 10 |