ABSTRACT
The past decade of peace and conflict research has witnessed a significant growth in the use of the term transformation. Indeed Galtung (1996) has now pushed this concept center stage by defining peace as non-violent and creative conflict transformation. As presented by its advocates, it is an optimistic, radical, and egalitarian idea that views conflict as a dynamic source of positive change, and promises to take peace and conflict research into new and exciting directions at the dawn of a new century. The concept merits serious attention, for contained within it are interesting ideas about how to respond to destructive conflict. So it is no longer good enough to dismiss it as “utopian.” Yet that does not mean that real problems do not exist, as attempts to transform Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo demonstrate.
