ABSTRACT
Johan Galtung first introduced the term peacebuilding in the 1970s when peace was generally equated with the prevention of war between two rival blocs endowed with nuclear weapons. Peace, in effect, meant negative peace – specifically with respect to the avoidance of war between the two superpowers. 9/11 radically changed the international security environment and the policies of major international actors. Unlike the multilateralist liberal agenda of the 1990s, after 9/11 state-centric national security doctrines re-emerged and helped shape the global war on terror and US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The record of international peacebuilding is uneven, with only partial success in preventing the outbreak or recurrence of violent conflicts and rebuilding of war-torn societies. While there is no single peacebuilding doctrine applicable across all phases of conflict in different contexts, there is a wealth of practical experience which has generated a rich body of literature at the intersection of theory, policy, and practice.
