In 1998 the Solomon Islands descended into chaos and conflict. Rising tensions that had been brewing for years erupted into open violence between militants from the island provinces of Guadacanal and Malaita. The subsequent five years of crisis and lawlessness prompted a large scale regional intervention, and has resulted in a dramatic makeover of the state. Many other peace building efforts have worked alongside the state-building process, and this case study examines the impact of a number of peace approaches. Reflecting upon peace practice in the context of the Solomon Islands requires viewing the conflict and the subsequent attempts at building peace through a number of lenses. We explore the multiple and interlinked factors that worked together to cause parts of the nation to collapse into conflict. We explore the dynamics of building peace, and we reflect that there have been, and continue to be, parallel processes working at brokering peace, creating stability and (re-)creating and realizing a more sustainable peace. One is self-organizing, emergent and bottom up. It focuses upon reconciliation as a means to peace, valuing and using traditional conflict resolution processes. This has been an organic, self organizing network of communities and organizations, both secular and religious, that has focused upon healing and repair from a broader human security perspective. The other process, according to all interviewed, is an imposed system that aims to reconstitute the state as the main arbiter of order and stability. Although this effort is more visible and better funded, this process has concentrated upon what was necessary in terms of state repair, but this has proven to be insufficient. The other process is The Solomon Islands are still working through a dynamic process of nurturing and cultivating a sustainable peace. This case study addresses the dynamics, at times chronologically and at times thematically.

The dataset contains the respondents' views on the dimensions of insecurity in West Africa and ECOWAS initiatives as the peace and security actor in the region. Specifically, they are arranged in accordance with the fourteen research questions designed for this study. The areas covered include ; the effectiveness of ECOWAS’s responses to myriads of conflicts across West Africa; the successes and failures of ECOWAS post-Cold War peace operations and factors responsible for the outcomes; the challenges associated with ECOWAS peacekeeping in West Africa; the appropriateness or otherwise of ECOWAS Multilateral Security Mechanisms ;ECOWAS missions in Liberia (ECOMOG), in Gambia (ECOMIG) and Mali (MICEMA/AFISMA/MINUSMA).It also contains the Respondent's views on the lessons and strategies to be deployed to boost ECOWAS operational capability in the future. This information is a product of 12 Months field research conducted across West Africa states,particularly across ECOWAS's Peace and Security Directorates. This involved data collection through a number of qualitative research techniques such as participant observation, in-depth interviews, and semi-structured methods (written open-ended questionnaire, focus groups), and case studies.The contents of these responses support the findings of this study.

The proliferation of security threats from interstate to complex and protracted intrastate tensions in West Africa has been the driving force behind ECOWAS’s significant transition from a multinational economic institution to a supranational peacekeeping force. In its pursuit of peace as a precondition for socio-economic and political development in the region, ECOWAS has progressively developed extensive multilateral and multidimensional security mechanisms targeted at addressing diverse facets of regional conflicts. However, the hope placed in these mechanisms to elevate human security and supra-nationality over regime security and sovereignty in regional peacekeeping has remained problematic, while there has been very little in-depth research in this area.

This thesis therefore examines the dimensions of insecurity in West Africa and the impacts of ECOWAS peacekeeping initiatives as a conflict management and security actor in the region. Specifically, ECOWAS’s peacekeeping engagements are analysed through evaluation of its peace missions in Liberia (ECOWAS Mission in Liberia-ECOMOG/ECOMIL) and Gambia (ECOWAS mission in the Gambia-ECOMIG). Likewise its contributions to multi-actor peace operations in Mali (MICEMA/AFISMA/MINUSMA). The purpose of these surveys is to determine the levels of effectiveness of these missions, their lessons and drawbacks as well as the required strategies to be deployed for more effective achievements in future regional peace operations. A qualitative research approach was chosen using a multiple case study approach. This involved extensive participant observation over one year, in-depth interviews, written open-ended questionnaires, focus groups and information gathered from the published literature.

The study found that while ECOWAS’s security mechanisms are conceptually comprehensive and standardized, their operationalisation has been emasculated by the resource-capability weakness of the ECOWAS institution, internal politics among its members and lapses occasioned by external influences. This situation is responsible for ECOWAS’s inability to attain its full operational capabilities and mount robust peace operations in West Africa. The findings reveal that while ECOMOG and ECOMIG peace missions were relatively successful; the same cannot be said of MICEMA/AFISMA, which has not transited beyond the conceptualisation phase. Additionally, the thesis questions the rationale behind the ECOWAS/AU peacekeeping partnership since both institutions suffer from similar constraints. The argument that UN peace missions will often succeed where ECOWAS/AU has failed is equally untenable as the Malian conflict has demonstrated.

The findings of the three case studies indicate that mutually reinforcing collaboration among the trio (ECOWAS/AU/UN) is indispensable for peacekeeping success in the region since ECOWAS, unlike the UN currently lacks the resource capability to mount fully comprehensive and robust peace missions save with support from wider international community. The principal conclusion is that although the multi-actor peacekeeping model is not the ideal model for the region, it holds a better prospect for success than any other approach to the resolution of contemporary West African conflicts. Further, the capabilities of future ECOWAS peace missions will be boosted if they rely on endogenous resources and effective pre-crisis engagements rather than the current reactionary interventions, which often come with considerable human and material costs. The key conclusion of the study is that the prospect of self-sustaining peace in West Africa will likely remain elusive until the regional multilateral security mechanisms are operationally diversified to address fundamental socio-economic and human security facets of the problems, which remain at the root of most of the conflicts.

This thesis examines economic and social reintegration of Maoist ex-combatants and its impact on peacebuilding in Nepal. It applies a constructivist Grounded Theory approach to research in terms of both data collection and analysis. Data collection was carried out using key informant interviews and focus group discussions with both ex-combatant and non-combatant respondents. The interviews and focus group discussions were carried out in the Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Chitwan, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Dang, Banke and Kailali districts between September and December 2011, and between December 2012 and March 2013. The research conducted for this thesis established that the complex political environment that emerged, following the signing of the peace agreement on 21 November 2006, has had implications for the ways in which different sets of policy were developed to manage ex-combatants in Nepal. As a result, a hybrid DDR model, which is called "unconventional DDR" in this thesis, emerged.

This thesis examines the role that communities play in recovery from armed conflict. It explores the nature of violence, examines how armed conflict occurs and what steps are taken to resolve it. It identifies recovery processes, concentrating specifically on the notion of peacebuilding as distinct from peacemaking and peacekeeping. I define the essential elements of peacebuilding processes applicable in any post conflict situation, the people involved in peacebuilding and how that involvement is facilitated. I discuss the optimum time frame for peacebuilding processes, explore typical activities associated with peacebuilding and query whether such activities can lead to the creation of a culture of peace. I highlight the importance of community participation in planning and implementing peacebuilding processes. By examining how current peacemaking and peacebuilding processes are being enacted in Northern Ireland in general and Down District in particular, I identify both the successful elements and possible impediments to creating a culture of peace. I illustrate the influential role that donor agencies play by determining criteria for peacebuilding projects and show how funding conditions can impede progress in peacebuilding and recovery processes. The thesis recommends community participation in all aspects of planning, implementing and sustaining peacebuilding projects and processes.