Sweden and other like-minded countries are well equipped to ensure that 2017 becomes a watershed year for putting prevention in the service of sustaining peace.
Author: Youssef Mahmoud
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Too many states and peoples have responded to problems by unilaterally using force or by turning inward, building barriers instead of bridges, and stifling dissent, under the guise of fighting external threats.
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During the General Assembly debate following the adoption of the resolution, most member states hailed the conceptual shift from peacebuilding to sustaining peace as transformative and forward-looking.
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One of the main reason positive peace is judged as better strategy for moving the prevention agenda forward is its universal applicability and the fact that it is not confined to conflict-ridden countries. More importantly, it calls on the responsibility of all the world’s citizens to act as its proactive agents.
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Three major peace and security reviews conducted in 2015 have taken stock of the changing global environment; analyzed UN responses; and come up with several key policy messages, as well as a number of complementary recommendations which, if implemented, could help the UN peace and security architecture be better fit for purpose.
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Despite the increasing public acknowledgment of the limitations of military responses and the recognition that responding to violence with more violence makes us all more insecure, there continues to be deliberate reluctance to dig deeper in diagnosing some of the powerful drivers of violent extremists.
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Outside Tunisia, the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize generated a great deal of praise and congratulations for the Tunisian people, mostly from Western nations’ leaders and media.
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The resilience demonstrated by African citizens in their quest for freedom and democracy, justice, and the rule of law is ushering significant changes in the way power is acquired, exercised and maintained.
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Many Tunisians, including political leaders and human rights advocates, are already questioning whether the emergency declaration was necessary.
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Tunisians and their leaders are aware that the use of force alone is not the answer, given the nature of the underlying conditions that drive and sustain violent extremism. They do not want to fall into the trap laid by extremists of sacrificing their hard-won fundamental values on the altar of counter-terrorism.
