The Ethics of Peacebuilding

Edinburgh Studies in World Ethics Series Editor: Nigel Dower The Ethics of Peacebuilding Tim Murithi 'I can't imagine a more important topic for our times than that of learning how to facilitate sustainable peace through healing reconciliation based upon a foundation of ethically informed restorative as well as social/ economic justice.' Professor William Aiken, Chatham College, Pittsburgh This book explores the ethical dimension of peacebuilding. In the aftermath of the Cold War the hope for a more stable and just international order was rapidly dissolved by the internecine conflicts that plagued all continents. The Rwanda and Srebrenica genocides demonstrated the challenge of promoting peace in a world increasingly defined by intra-state conflict and sub-national groups confronting nation-states. Tim Murithi interrogates the role that ethics plays in promoting and consolidating peacebuilding and presents a synthesis of moral philosophy and international relations and an analysis of the ethics of negotiation, mediation, forgiveness and reconciliation. Exploring the extent to which ethical concerns influence and inform peacebuilding, he contributes to a growing body of literature on ethics and international relations which will enable students, scholars and practitioners to ground their understanding of a principled peacebuilding. Key Features: *Author has first-hand knowledge of peacebuilding through his work with the UN and NGOs *Analyses the ethics of peacebuilding inherent in the actions of the inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations *Examines the ethics of negotiation, mediation, forgiveness and reconciliation *Draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary case studies including the League of Nations, the United Nations, the Quakers in the Biafran War, the South African and Sierra Leonean Truth Commissions Tim Murithi is a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for International Cooperation and Security (CICS) at the Universit