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This case study demonstrates the impact of historical research into conflict management and resolution on:
This case study is based on research into the history of conflict resolution/management, peace implementation and public diplomacy in Europe, North America, Sri Lanka and Australia.
Research by Duncan McCargo at the University of Leeds has changed the way in which domestic and international policymakers, NGOs, the media and the Thai public have understood and engaged with the ongoing insurgency in southern Thailand. Since 2008, this award-winning, ESRC-funded work has played a key part in building consensus around the need for a political solution such as autonomy or decentralisation in the region. The research has supported peace initiatives,changed the implementation of security policy, and provided a road map for international donors seeking to help end the conflict.
The Build the Truce (BTT) project, undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM), considers the challenges involved in establishing and maintaining a truce during times of conflict. Findings from the research provided the basis for two innovative exhibitions, co-funded by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS). First, an interactive multimedia display at the Imperial War Museum London (IWML), included as an official part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Second, a Big Picture Show (BPS); part of the rolling programme at the Imperial War Museum North (IWMN). Together these exhibitions, associated public engagement activities and workshops, have both challenged and altered public perceptions of truce, as well as offering a valuable example of how complex and controversial topics can be presented within a museum setting.
Professor Spagat's ground-breaking research on civilian conflict casualties has had a demonstrable impact on the practices of NATO, the British military and humanitarian organisations operating in Afghanistan. The output from the research has been used to reduce the civilian casualties arising from military actions in Afghanistan.
This research has directly impacted the development of resources to enhance professional practice and had an influence on professional standards guidelines or training in these organisations. There are numerous examples of citations in a public discussion, consultation document or judgement and also of citation by journalists, broadcasters or social media. In Section 5 we provide documented evidence of influence on guidelines, legislation, regulation, policy or standards on NATO, the British military and humanitarian agencies in the form of an authorised statement and a podcast made by Lieutenant Colonel Ewan Cameron, a senior medic in the British Army.
In the present document we highlight one particular underpinning study (reference 1 of Section 3) that introduced the Dirty War Index (DWI). Joint follow-up work with Cameron (reference 2) applied the DWI concept to create the Civilian Battle Damage Assessment Ratio (CBDAR). Cameron then brought this construct to the field where NATO forces and humanitarian organizations used it to minimize the civilian impact of military and humanitarian operations in Afghanistan (sections 4 and 5). The DWI research agenda, including further applications (references 3, 4 and 5), has generated substantial public discussion by journalists and broadcasters (Section 4).
This case study demonstrates how psychological and political science research has been utilised to inform policy and practice responses to violence and conflict. Work with the Forgiveness Project has utilised social-psychological research to develop the Forgiveness Toolbox. This is designed to assist key stakeholders, victims, perpetrators and civil society organisations in dealing with the psychological consequences of violence and conflict. The political consequences of violence and conflict were addressed, for example, through our collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Bosnia, which resulted in new material for their work on state and welfare reform.
Work with veterans, diplomats, trauma specialists and journalists under the auspices of the International Consortium for the Study of Post-Conflict Reconciliation and Reconstruction (ICSPRR) has allowed Professor Bernard McGuirk's research to contribute to processes of reconstruction and reconciliation between Argentina and the UK. Dialogue between Argentinian and British war veterans from the 1982 conflict was facilitated for the first time and underpinned new understanding, beginning a process of healing. Through expert advice, McGuirk has influenced the thinking and approach to diplomacy of the Argentine Embassy in London and has influenced the way young diplomats in the Argentine Foreign Service in Buenos Aires are trained. His insights have informed broadcast and media content for two prominent journalists.
The Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus (the MECAC region) houses some of the most intractable conflicts in the world that demand fresh ideas and proposals about building stable societies and economies. The Institute of Middle East, Central Asia and Caucasus Studies (MECACS) has co-ordinated underpinning research to grapple with these challenges, and its impact includes (a) the local and Western policy-making community reassessing their policies and behaviour in key areas of foreign policy-making and conflict resolution; b) reports, cultural artefacts and exhibitions that have been used by civil society activists and cultural entrepreneurs to strengthen inter-communal dialogue and reflection; and c) a radical improvement in the career opportunities of individuals and the sustainability of institutions of higher education. The research has encouraged diverse benefits to Western policy-makers and to a broad set of regional actors. Involving both the political and regional elites representing sectors of society, culture and education, the influence of the research has been penetrating, comprehensive and self-sustaining.
Research led by Professor Sultan Barakat of the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) has had substantial impact in the UK and internationally on the design and use of strategic conflict and stability assessments of war-affected and fragile states. The PRDU enjoys a strong and sustained relationship with the Department for International Development (DfID) and has directly informed the UK's approach to strategic conflict assessment, leading to the creation of the Joint Assessment of Conflict and Stability (JACS) methodology. Impact has now reached beyond the UK with the PRDU commissioned to undertake conflict analyses for other bilateral and multilateral donor organisations using the approach developed with DfID, including a £487,391 project for UNICEF in Somalia that began in 2013.
Martin Evans' research concerns conflict and its aftermath in the Casamance region of southern Senegal — the scene of West Africa's longest-running insurgency. His work has influenced policy, humanitarian and development activity in the region and beyond, and has informed Western governments, international agencies and non-governmental organisations in their interventions to support peacebuilding and `post-conflict' reconstruction. In addition, Evans has provided expert testimony in relation to asylum claims made in Western countries by Casamançais fleeing persecution. Building on his previous work, Evans has conducted the underpinning research for this activity while at Chester as a lecturer (February 2009-July 2011) and senior lecturer (August 2011-present).
His work has a lasting impact because of the situation's intractability and the need to address ongoing violence and human displacement. The conflict also retains the capacity to destabilise neighbouring countries.
The Middle East Centre (MEC) has achieved a unique standing in providing informed analysis of the region, based on its cumulative academic expertise. It has made significant contributions to the media's and the public's understanding of political and societal developments in the Middle East. The MEC has given advice both to emerging Arab democracies on their own political systems, and to other governments on their relations with the countries of the region. The centre itself has also become a place of neutral ground, where individuals from opposite sides in conflicts in the region can meet, away from local tensions.