Book Notes
| Author | Stephen Badsey |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002234330604300229 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
journal of PEACE RESEARCH volume 43 / number 2 / march 2006
238
theory rather than theories of conflict per se,
although some of the ideas discussed may spur
ideas for research on violent conflict.
Kristian Skrede Gleditsch
Wolfsfeld, Gadi, 2004. Media and the Path to
Peace. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. xi
+ 271 pp. ISBN 0521831369.
Drawing on ideas and methodology from the
author’s previous Media and Political Conflict
(1997), this book examines the role of the news
media in democratic societies during peace pro-
cesses leading to conflict resolution. The author
offers three case studies, all starting from events
in 1996. The first of these, the Oslo peace process
between Israel and the Palestinians, is marred by
his decision not to include the Palestinian media,
on grounds of unfamiliarity and that he does not
consider them to be free in the same sense as the
Israeli media. His other cases studies are the peace
process between Israel and Jordan and the Good
Friday Agreement peace process in Northern
Ireland. His conclusions agree closely with the
‘constituencies of elites’ models of opinion-
forming and the media that have been prevalent
since the 1970s. Given the secretive nature of
much peace-process negotiation, and the advan-
tages of a low profile in reducing tension, the
underlying probability is for news media report-
ing and commentary to act as an obstacle to any
peace process. But, in practice, any peace process
is so complex that the exact value of the media in
promoting or hindering peace cannot be pre-
dicted. While reporting hampered the Oslo peace
process, it played a broadly neutral role in the
Israel–Jordan process, while in Northern Ireland
it played a positive role, reflecting the strong con-
sensus for peace among all interested parties. The
only firm conclusion to emerge from the author’s
analysis is that the news media must be treated as
part of the context for any peace process.
Stephen Badsey
Authors of Book Notes in this issue:
Martin Austvoll – PRIO
Stephen Badsey – University of Kent
Pavel Baev – PRIO
Jozef Bátora – University of Oslo
Michael Biggs – Queen’s University Belfast
Eduardo Bruera – Stanford University
Kathryn Furlong – University of British Columbia
Kristian Skrede Gleditsch – University of Essex
Kristian Berg Harpviken – PRIO
Håvard Hegre – PRIO
Kristine Höglund – Uppsala University
Gunhild Hoogensen – University of Tromsø
Nicholas Marsh – PRIO
Ragnhild Nordås – PRIO
Taylor Owen – University of Oxford
Øystein H. Rolandsen – PRIO
Siri Aas Rustad – PRIO
Sven Gunnar Simonsen – PRIO
Anne Thurin – PRIO
Hanne Hagtvedt Vik – University of Oslo
Håkan Wiberg – Danish Institute for International
Studies
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