Challenges of Liberal Peace and Statebuilding in Divided Societies
Conflict Trends, Issue 4, 2016
8 Pages Posted: 11 Apr 2017
Date Written: Fenruary 26, 2016
Abstract
This article critically evaluates the assumptions and values of liberal peace on statebuilding by situating it within the current debate in peace studies. I will focus specifically on one of the key assumptions in liberal peace literature that peace is necessarily the outcome of liberal democracy, market-based economic reforms and the formation of institutions associated with modern states. A case study from east Africa illustrates this paradigm. The main question is: What are the challenges to liberal peace in postcolonial African contexts? To interrogate the paradigm underpinning liberal peace, I will focus on recent statebuilding activities in South Sudan.
Keywords: Liberal Peace, Statebuilding, Divided Societies, South Sudan, nation failure, state failure, war, fragility of the state
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