ABSTRACT
After years of latent conflict, Kenya erupted into violence in December 2007 triggered by the Presidential elections. After 2007 election, violence in Kenya escalated week after week with egregious acts of violence-tribal members using machetes and burning people alive in their homes. This case study looks at the three inter-related concepts: conflict prevention, civil society, and a "whole of society" or comprehensive approach. A brief literature review outlines the relevance of these three concepts to current security discussions. Lessons from what worked in Kenya and other countries illuminate the successes and failures of civil society efforts at conflict prevention in Iraq and Afghanistan where attention focused largely on the state and not civil society. In sum, the case study raises questions about how Coalition Forces have related to Afghan civil society since 2001 and in Iraq since 2003 and how they could have related in a way that better achieved US goals in reducing insurgency and building a stable democracy.
