Newsletter January 2021The Center for Peace and Conflict Studies Building peace in the time of COVID-19 |
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Dear Friends and Colleagues, The Center for Peace and Conflict Studies would like to wish you a very happy and healthy 2021. We sincerely thank you for all your support for our past endeavors and want to take this opportunity to report on the activities and accomplishments of the Center in 2020. For peace scholars and practitioners globally, the biggest revelation of COVID-19 is how the pandemic has infected societal and international relations. In early 2020, as COVID-19 began spreading rapidly, we realized that this public health crisis would evolve into a peace and security issue and pose special challenges to fragile states and societies in conflict. It also provided a window of opportunity to promote more peaceful relations. The Center proactively modified its work, to take into account COVID-19 restrictions and to refocus on the peace and conflict implications of the pandemic. With a new grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, we immediately began conducting an urgent high-level virtual dialogue project between leading U.S. and Chinese scholars and policy experts. Similarly, we quickly adopted creative ways of continuing activities in the Middle East and North Africa region. Through piloting innovative ways of hosting dialogue sessions and undertaking research, we continued working relentlessly, with field missions to Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Tunisia, as well as agreeing a new partnership with the Center for Strategic Studies in Jordan. The Center also worked closely with partners to promote ‘Health Diplomacy’ on COVID-19 issues in Libya and Yemen. We are proud of these rapid actions to build peaceful relations and prevent violence around COVID-19. During the past year, we continued to deliver our academic, research and mentoring activities. CPCS strengthened its partnership with the Center for Security Studies (ETH Zurich) and the University of British Columbia on ‘Mediating Conflicts Between Groups with Different Worldviews’. We conducted our fifth ‘All Conflict is Local’ Conference. We also delivered our regular CPCS Speaker Series, bringing distinguished scholars and practitioners to the Seton Hall University. We look forward to continuing working with you in 2021 in the collective pursuit of sustainable peace. We firmly believe that the human society will prevail! Thank you and best wishes, |
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Asia Pacific Security and U.S. – China Relations |
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Since its outbreak in January 2020, China and the United States have suffered catastrophically from the COVID-19 pandemic. So has the U.S.-China relationship, which was already at a historic low point before COVID-19 accelerated its further deterioration. On June 1, 2020, the Center received a special grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to conduct a high-level virtual dialogue between policy communities of both countries to shed light on the Chinese and American views of relations during and after the coronavirus pandemic. |
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During the past several months, the Center worked with the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute on China and the United States and the Nanjing University’s Institute of International Relations to co-sponsor 13 dialogue meetings. The series brought together 55 American and Chinese experts who discussed a wide range of topics such as cooperation during the pandemic, ideological competition, managing tensions in the Western Pacific, Trade War, the Taiwan and Hong Kong crisis and tech decoupling. Read more about our Asia Pacific Security and U.S. – China Relations Program |
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Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) |
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The Center has continued to support cooperation across conflict divides, as well as effective aid delivery, in the MENA region. In Yemen, it is working in partnership with Search for Common Ground, in a project funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to support conflict sensitive aid practice. Its Yemen program was further bolstered through a new agreement with GIZ Germany to promote social coexistence through economic development, delivered in partnership with Center for Strategic Studies of the University of Jordan. |
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In 2020, the Center also supported dialogues between Libyan doctors and officials on COVID-19. These dialogues were delivered in association with the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the World Health Organization, and in partnership with leading Libyan health practitioners. Further, the Center continued to build academic, diplomatic, and non-governmental partnerships in the region, including through an initial field mission to Iraq. Read more on our Peacebuilding and Statebuilding in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Program |
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Catholic and Religious Peacemaking |
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The Center has worked in partnership with the Center for Security Studies (ETZ Zurich) and the University of British Columbia to explore approaches and methods for mediating conflicts with different worldviews. This action-research project has involved the partner institutions organizing online learning sessions between 15 global practitioners working across a broad range of conflict contexts. Read more about our Catholic and Religious Peacemaking Program |
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Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution Mentoring |
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Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs signed a contract with the Center to enhance the conflict sensitivity of its support for water management in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. The importance of conflict sensitive services in Lebanon was highlighted by the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, which ignited a wave of public protest against the government and the post-civil war status quo. In addition, the Center has provided conflict analysis support to GIZ’s programs in Yemen, as well as advisory support to civil society actors promoting peace in Syria, such as with the Center for Civil Society and Democracy (CCSD). Read more about our Training and Mentoring Program |
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All Conflict Is Local Conference |
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On October 20-21, 2020, CPCS held its fifth annual “All Conflict is Local: Personal Experience, Reflection and Conflict Resolution” conference. Conducted online for the first time, the conference participants included alumni from different parts of the world. For example, Brandon Kotlow ‘16, Program Officer at the Strategic Capacity Group, Washington, summarized his organization’s actions towards reforming Nigeria’s policing practices through strengthening community ties. |
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During 2020, we continued with our CPCS Speaker Series, hosting distinguished scholars, former ambassadors, think-tank leaders, peacebuilders, high ranking advisors and other dignitaries. Topics included U.S.-China relations, transformational leadership in the Lebanon and South African conflicts, and the work of grass-roots women peace advocates in Syria. |
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In 2020 our team members published many papers in both academic journals and policy publications: R. Joseph Huddleston, “Foulweather Friends: Violence and Third Party Support in Self-Determination Conflicts,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, forthcoming 2021. R. Joseph Huddleston and David Wood, “Functional Markets in Yemen’s War Economy,” Journal on Illicit Economies and Development, forthcoming 2021. R. Joseph Huddleston, “Continuous recognition: A latent variable approach to measuring international sovereignty of self-determination movements,” Journal of Peace Research 57, no. 6 (November 2020). Zheng Wang, “The Past’s Transformative Power,” The Wilson Quarterly, Fall 2020. Zheng Wang, “Clash of Memories and Clash of Dreams: The Legacy of the Pacific War and the Future of the East Asian Peace,” The Legacy of the Pacific War: 75 Years Later, The Wilson Center, August 2020. Zheng Wang, “Dangers and Opportunities in the Coronavirus Crisis: US-China and China-Japan Relations,” Covid-19 and the Social Sciences, Social Science Research Council, August 2020. David Wood (ed.), STC declaration of “self-administration” and ramifications for humanitarian actors, Yemen Conflict Sensitivity Platform & Yemen Analysis Team, May 2020. David Wood, Conflict Sensitivity Considerations for COVID-19 in Yemen, Yemen Conflict Sensitivity Platform, April 2020. David Wood and R. Joseph Huddleston, Promoting Peace in Yemen through the Economy: A survey of local economic potential, GIZ, March 2020. David Wood and Sarveena Ali-Khan, Conflict Sensitivity of Aid in Southern Yemen: The South and Aden, Yemen Conflict Sensitivity Platform, April 2020.
Read more about our Publications |
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The past year has been instrumental for the Center’s institutionalization and we want to thank each one of our incredible team members. Each week, the nine members at the Center have convened for our weekly meetings. Even though we have not been able to work together in shared office spaces, we have continued working closely and have supported each other commendably. Visit our website to meet our Team |
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