Peace and Leadership

Discuss the role of business in promoting peace in post conflict societies. (25) As peace negotiations have resulted in the settlement of intrastate violence and wars over the last decade, several societies have been going through difficult phases of post-conflict reconstruction. Negotiated settlement of long-term conflict brings about new challenges as well as opportunities for social transformation. Peace building involves a process comprised of various functions and roles. It often entails a wide range of sequential activities, proceeding from cease-fire, refugee resettlement to economic reconstruction and the advancement of human rights. The end of violent conflict has to be accompanied by rebuilding physical infrastructure and the restoration of essential government functions that provide basic social services. In the long run, stability cannot be achieved without the participation of former adversaries in a democratic political process and socio-economic reform. In the implementation of peace plans, peacemaking (often referred to as a negotiated method of resolving conflict) is complementary to peace building in that the former helps opposing parties reach an agreement on the common tasks of peace building. By being engaged in overcoming fragmentation and reducing animosities, peacemaking contributes to the successful implementation of peace building plans. Differences arising from ambiguities in interpreting the previous agreement have to be resolved by group facilitation, mediation, arbitration or bilateral negotiation (Bercovitch and Jackson, 1997). Peace making can be introduced to the design of post-conflict peace building mechanisms at various levels (Druckman,. 1997). A nation-wide network of peace structure contributes to mitigating widespread political violence in deeply divided societies. As happened in the post-conflict settlement of several Central American countries, the implementation of peace accords can be overseen by national and

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