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On the basis of research on the anthropology of the state and sustainable development, Dr Michelle Obeid was invited to work with two UN organisations, taking the lead in identifying key governmental and non-governmental actors to develop a National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) for Lebanon, with peace-building at its core. An inclusive process was employed, that consulted with lower rank civil servants and civil society actors. It was concluded that an official mechanism was needed to mediate the flux created by unforeseen changing governments (three between July 2009 and 2013) who tended to dismiss the work of their predecessors. Acting on Obeid's recommendations, in July 2012 the project culminated with the creation of an official task-force in the Ministry of Environment, endorsed by the Prime Minister's Office.
Through training courses, briefings and written reports, Justin Willis and Chris Vaughan have influenced policy-making and contributed to professional development in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Department for International Development (DfID), and Ministry of Defence (MoD), as well as other governments. They have had similar impacts on NGOs and multilateral bodies, including the African Union and agencies of the United Nations. In so doing, they have contributed to innovation and entrepreneurial activity through the expansion of a non-governmental organisation, the Rift Valley Institute (RVI).
Jackson's research on post-conflict state-building has shaped processes of international intervention and internal reconciliation during and following conflicts in Africa and South Asia. His work has had impact in two main areas.
First, in Nepal where Jackson has directly contributed to securing successful implementation of the peace agreement to demobilise, rehabilitate and reintegrate 20,000 Maoist combatants though involvement in mediation between the Nepali military and government on the one hand, and Maoist combatants on the other.
Second, Jackson's research along with a government commissioned evaluation of the UK's peace intervention in Sierra Leone has resulted in the provision of expert advice on security sector reform to UK and foreign governments and non-governmental organisations, through:
This case study focuses on research into both state and non-state policing and enhancement of the governance of justice and security in Africa and beyond. This research has resulted in the following:
Beneficiaries include: Policy-makers in governments, aid agencies, think tanks, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and commercial consultancies working in the field of justice and security in Africa and internationally.
The key recommendations of the `hybrid model' of the Justice System in Afghanistan, developed by Dr Wardak, were written into draft Afghanistan law under the title, `The Law on Dispute Resolution, Shuras and Jirgas', by the Ministry of Justice. The ideas derived from Wardak's new model were piloted in different parts of Afghanistan by the United States Institute of Peace, by USAID, TLO and CPAU. Preliminary results of pilot studies, in selected districts in Afghanistan, indicate that the hybrid model provides workable solutions to many of the problems that Afghan state and non-state justice systems currently face.
A key challenge for Western policy makers and legal practitioners in formulating justice and security responses to mass atrocity in the African Great Lakes region is to understand the political, social and cultural causes of conflict, and the manner in which past conflicts can be resolved and potential future conflicts prevented. Phil Clark's research sheds much-needed light on these issues, and assesses the nature and impact of both local and international transitional justice responses. This research has prompted his active engagement with international judicial processes and debates on aid policy, encouraging international actors to be more aware of local dynamics around conflict and justice, with the wider aim of maintaining the vulnerable stability of post-conflict nations in Africa.
The impact of Professor Dominik Zaum's research is a model of how to bring novel and imaginative scholarship into the practical world of policymaking. The research, which was conducted within the UoA, examined the role of corruption in the political economy of statebuilding and stabilisation efforts. Its impact has derived from two achievements: it has shown that some forms of corruption can, in some circumstances, have stabilising effects; and it has produced a rigorous assessment of what works — and what does not work — in donor-funded anti-corruption efforts. It has thus influenced and informed the debates of policy-makers in the Department for International Development (DFID) and the inter-departmental Stabilisation Unit (SU: the UK government's centre for expertise and best practice in stabilisation). The impact of Zaum's work has been both recognised and amplified by fellowships with DFID and the SU. This has enabled Zaum himself to accentuate the impact through formal presentations, informal internal discussion, and implementation-oriented publications, thus influencing the perspectives of a policymaking community both inside and beyond these institutions. The impact can be evidenced through such measures as downloads of his policy papers, the use of these papers in training and as resources, and through the testimony of officials.
Heimann's research findings reveal that the Czechoslovak state, throughout successive political regimes, consistently discriminated against, and often persecuted, its minority populations. Her book launched public discussion about nationalist (ethno-linguistic) chauvinism in Central Europe. Her research has changed perceptions of the Czechoslovak state as having been more liberal and tolerant than its Central European neighbours. The research was disseminated through: book sales (three editions); internet serialisation; a Czech World Service documentary; newspaper and magazine feature articles; blogs; radio and press interviews; public lectures (e.g. at the Slovak Embassy and to Czech and Slovak charities); public policy symposia (e.g. with the Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Polish and Slovenian ambassadors to Britain and a former US Secretary of State); internet discussion groups; a BBC Radio 4 play; book reviews; discussion in the National Theatre in Prague as part of the Prague Writers' Festival 2013; and 2-hour panel discussion with the former Prime Minister in the Czech Parliament (Senate) shown live on Czech TV.
Professor Richard Caplan's research explores the challenges that arise in the context of post- conflict peace- and state-building. His work on exit strategies and peace consolidation led the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) to ask him to examine specific challenges to designing and implementing transitional strategies in peace operations, and to suggest how these challenges could be met more effectively. This work initiated a process within the UN to introduce more rigorous benchmarking practices for peacebuilding, laid the foundations for the development of a common UN methodology for measuring peace consolidation and played an instrumental role in the production of a United Nations handbook on peace consolidation monitoring, entitled Monitoring Peace Consolidation - United Nations Practitioners' Guide to Benchmarking (United Nations, 2010). The handbook is being used to support practitioners engaged in peacebuilding across the UN system.
Over the last decade, understanding the character of war in Afghanistan has been of unparalleled importance to the British and U.S. armed forces and to their respective governments. Dr Rob Johnson, military historian and Director of The Oxford Changing Character of War Programme since 2012, has become a key participant in the process of preparing British officers serving in Afghanistan, and in developing senior commanders' understanding of the army's role in this conflict and the options for military transition. His book, articles, presentations and direct engagement in debate have been cited by military practitioners as a vital corrective to their thinking, and have done much to dispel stereotypical views and misunderstandings of Afghanistan and its past.