Towards sustainable peace : peace-building and human security
Abstract
Failed and fragile states that result from intrastate war pose severe threats to the
security of both the international system and individual states alike. In the post-Cold War
era, the international community has come to recognize the reality of these threats and the
difficulty involved in ending violence and building sustainable peace in failed and fragile
states. This work focuses upon the development of a comprehensive strategy for
sustainable peace-building by incorporating the tenets of the human security doctrine into
the peace-building process. Through the use of case studies of The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia and East Timor, the development and refinement of the doctrine
of human security will occur, as well as, an understanding of how and where human
security fits into the sustainable peace-building equation. The end result of the analysis is
the development of a hierarchical pyramid formation that brings together human security
and peace-building into one framework that ultimately creates the foundation and
structure of sustainable peace-building.
With the development of a sustainable peace-building structure based upon the
human security doctrine, the role of Canada in the support of sustainable peace-building
is analyzed in relation to the form and level of involvement that Canada undertakes and
contributes to in the implementation and support of sustainable peace-building initiatives.
Following from this, recommendations are provided regarding what role(s) Canada
should undertake in the sustainable peace-building process that take into consideration
the present and likely future capabilities of Canada to be involved in various aspects of
the peace-building process.
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This paper outlines the need for a peace-building strategy that is designed to be
sustainable in order that failed and fragile states resulting from intrastate conflict do not
regress or collapse back into a condition of civil war, and subsequently designs such a
strategy. The linking of peace-building and human security creates the required
framework from which sustainable peace-building is derived. Creating sustainable peace
is necessary in order to increase the likelihood that both present and future generations
existing in failed and fragile states will be spared from the scourge of intrastate war.