Is there a preventive action renaissance? The policy and practice of preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention
Preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention are intended to stop armed conflicts before they escalate. Conflict prevention is a broader concept referring to the monitoring, containment, and reduction of risk factors that shape war onset, intensification, and spread. Both constructs were conceived in the latter half of the 20th century, which was characterised by a sizeable array of international or interstate wars. There has since been a growth in capacities to anticipate and prevent conflicts before they erupt. This report considers historical trends, emerging opportunities, and recurrent challenges associated with preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention. Recommendations for future conflict prevention activities include sharing but not aligning conflict analyses, aligning conflict analyses with local understandings and terminology, researching drivers of peace separately from drivers of violence, studying the micro-determinants of success in preventive action, beginning a dialogue on the co-ordination of preventive action, and ensuring sufficient and flexible financing for preventive action.
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Robert Muggah is a professor at the Instituto de Relações Internacionais, the research director of the Igarape Institute, a principal of the SecDev Group and a CCDP research associate. He is a senior adviser to the OECD and a number of UN organisations, and was previously the research director of the Small Arms Survey. He has undertaken research and evaluated stabilisation, DDR, and violence reduction programmes in more than 30 countries. He currently oversees several projects relating to urban violence, stabilisation, humanitarian action, cybercrime and peace support operations. He holds a DPhil from Oxford University.
Natasha White is a research assistant at the Graduate Institute’s Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding. Prior research positions include in the global risk analysis team at Control Risks and in the Environment and Resource Governance Programme at Chatham House, London. She has undertaken field research across the Africa region, including with a civil society organisation in Gulu, Uganda amid the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army. She holds an honours from Edinburgh University and is a master’s candidate at the Graduate Institute, Geneva.
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