The end of an armed conflict is the starting moment of a new period that creates space for transforming institutions, structures and relationships within society. In such historical moments the actors of peace negotiations and peace building processes have the window of chance and responsibility to create a new society

Pride, Protests, and the Beijing Olympics Author: Ross Ryan Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on 05/08/2008   It is terribly unfortunate, but pride and peace are not always easy to reconcile with one another. And short of international war, or the World Cup, it is hard to imagine

On a continent renowned for its AIDS pandemic and blood-thirsty warlords, this decade is seeing some bright spots emerge. And they're all women.

The world watched with a mixture of horror and lethargy during the various genocides of the 20th century, later wondering why no one tried to stop it. But as the grimness in Darfur, Sudan, continues to unfold, the cycle is repeating itself.

Ferdinand Katendeko finds that pre-independence agreements by the then dominant Colonial power over the control of the vital Nile waters may lead to further conflict in conflict-torn Africa.

Catherine Onekalit asks the question can von-violent methods help to end the war that has lasted seventeen years in northern Uganda destroying the lives of thousands of children and young people. She notes that progress has been slow but that is no excuse for stopping. Quite the opposite, and one

Molly Mayfield Barbee marks the 88th anniversary of the nineteenth amendment to the US constitution with an appreciation of the central role that women are playing in this year's presidential race in the US (Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and now Sarah Palin), as well as the much longer list of

Catherine Onekalit offers another prose poem to bring home the horror of war and the hope for peace.

In the last issue we carried an interview with the General Mujahid Alam who was responsible for overseeing fair elections in the Congo. He predicted a quiet time at the polling stations and he was right. Unfortunately when the first results were announced fighting broke out in the capital, Kinshasa.

Ethiopia's occupation of Somalia has recieved significantly less attention from world media than other ongoing conflicts. Afyare Abdi Elmi discusses some of the reasons behind this silence and warns against the consequences of its continuation.