Assessing Context-Specific Peacebuilding Approaches in Contemporary Armed Conflicts: From High-Level Mediation to Middle-Out Linkage in Syria and from Adaptive Mediation to Nationally-Owned Peacebuilding in Mozambique

As contemporary armed conflicts become increasingly complex, international, regional, national, and local actors have been unable to prevent or respond effectively to related crises. Considering the policy trends evoked by the United Nations sustaining peace agenda, there is now a renewed sense of purpose in debating the importance of context-specific peacebuilding approaches. This article examines peacebuilding initiatives amid complex contexts in Syria and Mozambique.

JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development Senior Research Fellow Ako Muto and Research Fellow Rui Saraiva argue that the adaptive approach of the National Agenda for the Future of Syria and the architecture of negotiation of the new peace process in Mozambique represent examples of context-specific, innovative, and non-linear peacebuilding methods that foster the self-organization capabilities of the respective conflict-affected societies. The research article concludes by asserting that through pragmatism, local and national ownership, and process facilitation, there is an increased potential for the effectiveness of peacebuilding interventions in complex conflict-affect situations.

This article was published in Seoul National University, Institute for Peace and Unification Studies’ Asian Journal of Peacebuilding.