Review: Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding: Regeneration of War-Torn Societies
| Author | Robert O. Matthews |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600119 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
Reviews
This
is
no
fluke.
The
same
phenomenon
is
reflected in
the
media.
The
New
York
Times
continues
to
give
Holocaust-related
stories
20
times more
coverage
than
it
does
the
Rwandan tragedy.
No wonder
President
George
W.
Bush
can
publicly
avow
that,
should
another
threat
of
genocide
arise
in Rwanda
-
not
an
unthinkable
possibility
-
the
United
States
would
send
not
one
single
soldier
to
avert
it.
Substantively,
Melvern's
book
is
notable
for
arriving
at
the
same
con-
clusions
as
just
about
every
other
serious
study.
It's
explicit
in
her
title,
as
it
was
in
the
OAU-commissioned
report,
Rwanda:
The
Preventable
Genocide.
While the
actual
genocide
was
the
work
of
a
small
corps
of
greedy
Hutu
fanatics
surrounding
the
president,
the entire
calamity
might
well
have
been
averted
had
the
French
and
American
govern-
ments,
above
all,
chosen to
act
appropriately.
Melvern
tells
this
chilling
story
well,
and
demonstrates
that
'Never
again!'
remains
merely
a
slo-
gan,
not
a
commitment.
Gerald
Caplan/Toronto
REGENERATION
OF
WAR-TORN SOCIETIES
Global
issues
Edited
by
Michael
Pugh
Houndsmill
&
London:
Macmillan
and
St
Martin's,
2000,
xvi,
24
9pp,
US$65.00,
ISBN
0-312-23113-x
How
societies
move
from
protracted
civil
war
to
enduring
peace
has
become
the
principal theme
of
a
rich
and
rapidly
growing
literature.
Frequently
referred
to
as
peacebuilding,
the
process
is
described
in
this
edited
collection
as
the
'regeneration
of
war-torn
societies,'
a
term
the
editor
prefers
because
it
suggests
a
self-sustaining,
rather
than
an
imposed,
process
that
generates
change
rather
than
a
restoration
of
the
status
quo
ante.
By
exploring
various
dimensions
of
regeneration
-
human
security,
demilitarization,
the
rule
of
law
as
an
instrument
to
provide justice,
civil
society
and
social
programmes,
and
childhood
initiatives -
and
four
cases
-
social
development
in
Travnik,
Bosnia,
national
reconciliation
and international
law
in
Transcaucasia,
accommodation and
recon-
struction
in Liberia,
and
the
transition
to
peace
in Eritrea
-the contrib-
utors
provide
important
insights
into
the
peacebuilding
process.
The
findings
are
interesting
and
valuable. Perhaps
the
most
forceful
view
is
that
for
regeneration
to
be
effective,
it must
'be
imbedded
in
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter2000-2001
177
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