Sympathy and pity come naturally. But truly understanding a person or group of people may require you to put yourself in their shoes, and that requires empathy. A careful process of teaching and field trips can lead students toward this frame of mind, and a greater understanding of the people

Three years after the historic Memorandum of Understanding was signed, Endro Kristanto discusses the long standing struggle between Aceh independence advocates and the Indonesian government, the current challenges to peace, and the necessities of building trust, protecting human rights, and moving towards political reconciliation.

Key words: moral imagination, storytelling, peace building, transforming conflict, creativity, peace leadership, peace practioners

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

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

The state of the field. An interview with Christopher Mitchell Author: Ross Ryan Originally Published at Peace and Conflict Monitor on 09/19/2008 Christopher Mitchell is currently Professor Emeritus at theInstitute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, Virginia, where he was the Drucie French Cumbie Professor of Conflict

This article explores contemporary British gender relations as premised upon biological determinism. Through an analysis of the definitions of peace and violence, the link between gender relations and peace are exposed. Gender is problematised by exploring the way that scientific knowledge constructs and reinforces dichotomies of man and woman. Through

Two years after Kosovo's controversial separation from Serbia, Martin Wählisch reports on the progress of the country, the challenges it faces, and the prospects for peace and stability in the region.

Building on the work of Dr Victoria Fontan and others, Muhyadin Saed challenges conventional methods of peacebuilding, with specific reference to the experiences of Somaliland. Saed proposes a human-centred, rather than institutional, approach which considers the local people to be vital assets in the design and implementation of such projects.

Dr. Gao Lan, Director of Northeast Asian Studies Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, examines the prospects for, and possible pathways to, reconciliation between China and Japan and for the creation of an East Asian Community via a comparison with Germany and France’s post-WWII reconciliation and the development