Author: Caroline Moorehead Published by: Chatto & Windus ISBN: 10: 0099492873 13: 978-0099492870

Reviewed by: Melita Sunjic
In Conflict Trends Issue 3 of 2005

Caroline Moorehead has been a journalist covering human rights issues for more than twenty years. In this capacity, she heard hundreds of refugee stories from all over the globe, some tragic, some with a happy ending, but all of them charged with emotions and human suffering.

Moorehead captures the essence of her book in these words: “a record of what happens to people when their lives spiral out of control into horror and loss, of the lengths they will go in order to survive, of the extraordinary resilience of ordinary men, women and children when having to accept the unacceptable, and also an account of how the modern world is dealing with exoduses that far exceed in complexity and distance anything the world has known before.”

Edited by Marie Muller and Bas De Gaay Fortman Published by: Royal Van Gorcum, 2004 ISBN: 10: 902324043X 13: 978-9023240433

Reviewed by: Senzo Ngubane
In Conflict Trends Issue 3 of 2004

Undoubtedly, the question of security in Southern of security in Southern Africa will continue to be one of the main issues for discussion around regional cooperation among member states that belong to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This is the case for a number of reasons. These include the fact that the sub-region does not seem to have been able to define in clear and concrete terms what approach it ought to take when it comes to its security. Or, where attempts have been made to define that approach, the responsible policy makers and other relevant actors have not been able to take the necessary steps to ensure implementation. This reviewer has argued elsewhere that, among other challenges that exist around the discourse on security in Southern Africa, there seems to be a gap between the academic thinking on the one hand and the policy approaches and decisions on the other. To put the matter differently, there is a plethora of academic thinking about a need for an alternative approach to security in the region. Such a gap is found specifically within the concept which has come to be known as human security.

Edited by Jakkie Cilliers and Greg Mills Published by: SAIIA/ISS, Johannesburg, 1999 ISBN: 10: 1874890994 13: 978-1874890997

Reviewed by: Kwezi Mngqibisa, ACCORD
In Conflict Trends Issue 4 of 1999

The main thrust of this book is the pursuit of consensus around a standard African peacekeeping doctrine. In the first article, Cilliers and Mills do an excellent job in introducing the reader to the harsh realities that characterise conflicts and their resolution.

Daisaku Ikeda Published by: Middleway, 2001. Santa Monica ISBN: 10: 0967469724 13: 978-0967469720

Reviewed by: Motse Ramathe
In Conflict Trends Issue 4 of 2001

As a Buddhist leader, educator and philosopher, Daisaku Ikeda has written extensively on the sub- ject of world peace. In his latest book, For the sake of Peace, Daisaku Ikeda confirms the individual’s responsibility in bringing peace to the world. He argues that world peace can be achieved through self-control, dialogue and the creation of a culture of peace.

By Peter Batchelor And Susan Willett Published by: Oxford University Press, South Africa, (year unknown) ISBN: 10: 0198294131 13: 978-0198294139

Reviewed in Conflict Trends Issue 1 of 1999

The South African defence industry, built up during the apartheid years and during the UN embargoes on sales of arms to South Africa, became one of the most important sectors of the country’s industrial base and a significant exporter. Since the end of aparteid, the end of the cold war and the elections of 1994, South Africa has cut its military expenditure drastically and is seeking to use the resources released to restructure and revitalise the country’s industrial base and to support reconstruction, development and redistribution. The new government has a unique opportunity to develop innovative policies on defence and security matters, the arms industry and arms exports. This analysis of the South African experience provides a valuable contribution to the international debate on the economic effects of military expenditure and defence industrialization and on the relationship between disarmament and development in developing countries.

H. Miall, O. Ramsbotham Published by: T. Woodhouse: Polity Press, 1999 ISBN: 10: 0745632130 13: 978-0745632131

Reviewed by: Roland Henwood, lecturer at the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
In Conflict Trends Issue 3 of 2000

The authors of Contemporary Conflict Resolution explained that it was written to meet the need for a single and comprehensive survey on contemporary conflict resolution. They also felt the book would make a valuable contribution to the management of post-Cold War conflicts. The target audience includes researchers, students, policy-makers, practitioners, as well as those involved in conflict resolution.

Kriesberg, Louis(Louis Kriesberg is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Maxwell Professor Emeritus of Social Conflict Studies at Syracuse University) Published by: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham, Maryland, 1998 ISBN: 10: 0742544230 13: 978-0742544239

Reviewed by: Jannie Malan
In the African Journal on Conflict Resolution Volume 1 No. 1, 1999

The experienced author of this valuable book has tried to provide a comprehensive, realistic approach to conflict resolution theory and practice, and has succeeded remarkably well.

On almost 400 pages he shares his extensive and intensive insight into conflicts as they emerge, intensify, de-escalate and reach outcomes. Throughout the book the social context of conflict in general and conflicts in particular is taken very seriously. The author s definition of social conflict includes both individuals and groups. The appropriate examples from real conflicts which he continuously presents, cover all sorts of destructive and constructive socio-political conflicts. The three cover photos may be regarded as symbols of the kinds of windows which are opened, or opened wider, to readers of the book. They show an individual demonstrator at the Berlin wall, a wide London street filled with placard carrying peace marchers, and Nelson Mandela at the ballot box in South Africa s first democratic election.

Jannie Malan Published by: Accord ISBN: 10: 0958412774 13: 978-0958412773

Reviewed by: By Alioune Sall, United Nations Development Programme, Abidjan, Cote d’lvoire
In Conflict Trends Issue 1 of 1998

This is a very well written and detailed book about conflict resolution wisdom in Africa. It begins with a detailed but concise narration of African history and gradually moves on towards modern times. It focuses the discussion of conflict by utilising a social context approach. It looks at how conflicts are normally addressed in the environment where they are emerging or have emerged. Talking may start informally within the families or neighbourhoods concerned. It also looks at how members of society, i.e. elders of both genders, may make meaningful contributions to preventing conflicts. Another constructive way of preventing and counteracting conflict is to promote socio-economic development. Africa’s experience of imposed, foreign types of development has led to an important change of perspective. A home-grown version of people –centred development is being advocated, and is apparently gaining support. 

Editors Monica Juma, Rafael Velasquez Garcia and Brittany Keeselman Published by: Africa Programme, United Nations-affiliated University for Peace (UPEACE): New York, 2006 ISBN: 0-9585097-3-5

Reviewed in Conflict Trends Issue 3 of 2006

The Compendium of Key Documents Relating to Peace and Security in Africa is part of the evolving Series on Peace and Security in Africa published by the Africa Programme of the United Nations-affiliated University for Peace (UPEACE). The objective of the Compendium is to make available the main documents on, and act as a reference for, issues relating to peace and security in Africa. It will be of use to practitioners, academics and policy makers in the field of conflict prevention, transformation and resolution. It contains key documents on peace and security in Africa covering the period between 1963 and 2005.

Kumar Rupesinghe With Sanam Naraghi Anderlini Published by: Pluto Press, London, 1998 ISBN: 10: 0745312373 13: 978-0745312378

In Conflict Trends Issue 1 of 1999

As the dawn of a new millennium approaches, serious questions need to be raised regarding the nature of ‘civilised’ humanity and human beings’ capacity to harm each other in ways as systematic as they are vile. This raises a deeper, existential question: ‘Does man’s capacity to hate have no limits and will the conflagration ignited by such hatred not threaten the very existence of the human species?’