Peace Studies

This study examines the role of political factors in attitudes toward World War II in contemporary Ukraine. The question under examination is which factors determine public views of the principal warring sides and their leaders in Ukraine. This paper uses a representative national survey specifically designed for this research project and conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in 2012. It analyzes the roles of regionalism, political party preferences, ethnicity, language, age, and sex in attitudes toward the Red Army, Soviet partisans, the German Army (Wehrmacht), and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) during the war, as well as toward the wartime leaders of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and the UPA. The analysis of the survey data shows that regional values, political party preferences, ethnicity, language, and age have significant effects on views of the Soviet Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during the war and attitudes toward the wartime activities of Joseph Stalin and Roman Shukhevych. Public perceptions of the German Army and Adolf Hitler in Ukraine do not vary much across regions, political parties, and ethnic, language, age, and sex groups.

Topics in this Chapter Includes:

Creating the Enemy
Violence and Coercive Tactics
The Mind-Set of Competitive Games
Legitimizing Global Violence
Externalizes: The Acceptability of Risk
End Goals of Global Games: The Expansion of Markets
Ideological Beliefs
A Permanent War Economy
Economic Aid as a Political Tool
Creating the Communist Enemy
Ideological Irony
Tactics to Defeat Communism in the Third World
Creating Governments With the Corporate Agenda
Economic Intervention
Bypassing Legal Constraints
Overthrowing Governments
Iran: A Model Removal of a Popular Leader
Iraq and the Middle East: Preemptive Military Action
East Timor: Decimating a Civilian Population
Guatemala: Supporting Violent Military Rule
The Vulcans Expand the Agenda
Concentrating Power in the Executive
A Matter of Torture
Mercenaries: Privatizing the Military
New Directions for the War Fare State
Pointing the Cameras on Ourselves
Justifying the Expansion of Power and Influence

People abused by angry discipline as children, may tend to abuse or overly punish other people or themselves for perceived wrongs in their adult life. In some individuals, aggressive personality traits may be genetically inherited. The aggressive personality may feel weakened by having guidelines or boundaries for anger. Anger is a normal human emotion, and these guidelines can help express anger in a healthy way.

Επιβλέπουσα Καθηγήτρια: ΝΑΣΚΟΥ-ΠΕΡΡΑΚΗ Παρασκευή Τηλ.: 2310 891499 Email: perraki@uom.gr Β΄ Μέλος Εξεταστικής Επιτροπής: ΜΠΕΛΛΟΥ ΦωτεινήΤηλ.: 2310 891479 Email: fbellou@uom.gr
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<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/gr/"><img alt="Άδεια Creative Commons" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/gr/88x31.png" /></a><br />Αυτό το εργασία χορηγείται με άδεια <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/gr/">Creative Commons Αναφορά Δημιουργού-Μη Εμπορική Χρήση-Όχι Παράγωγα Έργα 3.0 Ελλάδα </a>."

Λέξεις Κλειδιά:

ασφάλεια, ειρήνη, τάξη, σταθερότητα, ισχύς, συνεργασία, συγκρούσεις, περιπτωσιολογικές μελέτες, φάσμα, εκκρεμές, πλαίσιο, πρίσμα, νομιμότητα, νομιμοποίηση, δόγμα, στρατηγική αντίληψη, σύστημα, ηγεμονία, αρχή, επέμβαση, ευθύνη, προστασία"

Συμπέρανα ότι, το ΝΑΤΟ μετεξελίσσεται σε οργανισμό που έχει τα χαρακτηριστικά ενός διεθνούς περιφερειακού οργανισμού, σε παγκόσμια όμως διάσταση, όπου με βάση το δόγμα "Ευθύνη Προστασίας" (Responsibility to Protect), αναλαμβάνει ρόλο χωροφύλακα, που επιδιώκει τη διασφάλιση της διεθνούς ασφάλειας και του εσωτερικού τομέα ασφαλείας, σε οριακές συγκρούσεις ανά την υφήλιο, πχ Βοσνία, Κόσσοβο, Λιβύη και προσεχώς Συρία."

Between 1975 and 1991, Lebanon experienced a bloody civil war that killed approximately 120,000 people. Product of the sectarian divisions in vogue since the colonial period, the conflict put Christians and Muslims in confrontation, having also the participation of third parties in the regional geopolitical setting. Despite the domestic character of the war, among the regional actors, Syria stands out. Damascus’s behavior as a third party had not been homogeneous. On some occasions, the Syrian government has played the role of mediator, negotiating a truce between the belligerent factions. In others, it intervened militarily or supported some groups over others. In this context, this article proposes to examine the Syrian role in the Lebanese Civil War. The objective is to analyze this action in the
light of the conflict resolution literature, especially that dealing with the intervention of a third party in the resolution process. In particular, emphasis will be given to the motivations and effects of Syrian intervention on the evolution and end of the Lebanese conflict. The results demonstrate that: the intervention of a third party in a domestic conflict is almost inevitable; its action is impelled by diverse and contingent reasons; and that it influences the evolution of this kind of belligerence.

A look at a few of the courageous individuals who were harassed, beaten and bombed while testing desegregation court rulings for the Southern United States. They rode buses in May of 1961 in an heroic act of nonviolent protest that helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Despite having different trajectories and internal dynamics, the Colombia/FARC and the Turkey/PKK cases offer an interesting comparative lens through which to analyze the critical factors of any successful peace process. While the Colombian government and the FARC reached a groundbreaking peace agreement in 2016, terminating the country's 52-year internal conflict, the peace process between the Turkish state and the PKK collapsed in 2015, initiating a new cycle in the long-running conflict. This article argues that there are three critical factors which have spelled success for Colombia: favorable regional dynamics, a weakened terrorist organization, and a well-structured agenda for negotiation. In contrast, complicated regional dynamics, a strengthened terrorist organization, and a lack of fixed agenda in negotiations have ultimately stymied Turkey/PKK peace efforts.

Stella Ghervas, "The Vienna Peace Settlements: From a Balance of Power to a Balance of Negotiation".

What were the innovations of the Congress of Vienna? It has been traditional to affirm that the European peace and security system established in the course of the Congress of Vienna had been an achievement of the political model of the balance of power. Historical reality was however more complex than that. Despite conflicting agendas, the statesmen and diplomats who drafted the settlements of 1814-15 genuinely sought to establish a lasting peace, after the long and bloody wars against Napoleon. In doing so, they effectively banned war among themselves for nearly four decades, until the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853).

Most of the critical peace literature has put 'a local turn' as an important aspect of a paradigm shift in liberal peacebuilding, both in academic and practice-oriented terms. Although most of the made criticism is valid, it is still being disputed by Western academics with their epistemologies, ontologies and methodologies. The voice of researchers who live in post-conflict or conflict-affected societies is still very much restricted by structural, institutional or personal constraints. Consequently, by drawing mostly from the experience of local researchers in the Balkans, the paper analyses the main causes for the limited impact of local researchers in the liberal peace debates, and proposes several steps that could lead to their stronger involvement in this discussion. We are doing something we don't understand fully, and the best we can do is admit we don't understand it, and that we also don't have time to understand it. 1

Efforts have been made to develop Computational Peace Forecasting Models (CPFM)
through synchronization of Science ,Spirituality & Humanity(Harmony) with an aim
to correlate all the three in order to find out the ways and means to establish Peace in
the Society by sustaining the ecological balance. Though all these three are different in
characteristics but, are same in so many ways and are important for the sustenance of
Nature, Peace & tranquility, Science is logical, analytical, systematic knowledge of
Global phenomena backed with experimental proof. Spirituality is Science of Soul. Its
intrinsic and transcendental of the five senses. Synergy of Science & Spirituality is
Humanity.
PEACE is paramount for the prosperity of Society, People & Planet. “Peace would
prevail with every body’s be wellbeing, everywhere Happiness, Harmony in everybody
and no misery be ever.” Based on my Science- Spirituality axiom i.e. “Peace is
inversely proportional to Entropy i.e. Disorderliness”, Peace Equation has
been developed, explaining that how the alum of Science-SpiritualityHumanity leads to Peace. Also, Computational Co relational techniques have
been employed to develop Mathematical Models to predict societal Peace &
happiness.
Next, the correlation of Peace & Success, Scientist & Spiritualists have been
discussed with the theme that Spirituality and Science are two opposite sides of the
same coin i. e Humanity. The alum of Science-Spirituality -Humanity (Harmony),
together mint a Triangle of Societal Peace. Lastly, based on the above correlations
&Synergy between Science, Spirituality, Humanity, the two models viz.
PEACE-‘VG: Hub & Spoke Model’ & the other PEACE- ‘VG: Life(L) Circle
Model’ have been developed.

This article examines the positionality of local stakeholders in the production of knowledge through fieldwork in qualitative research in Northern Uganda. While scholarly literature has evolved on the positionality and experiences of researchers from the Global North in (post)conflict environments, little is known about the positionality and experiences of local stakeholders in the production of knowledge. This article is based on interviews and focus groups with research assistants and respondents in Northern Uganda. Using a phenomenological approach, this article analyzes the positionality and experiences of these research associates and respondents during fieldwork. Three themes emerged from these interviews and are explored in this article: power, fatigue, and safety. This article emphasizes that researchers need to be reflexive in their practices and highlights the need to reexamine how researchers are trained in qualitative methods before going into the field. This article is further critical of the behavior of researchers and how research agendas impact local stakeholders during and after fieldwork.

The Syrian civil war has seen the weaponization of its land and property rights system by the primary combatant groups in the country. The government is the most robust in its use of the tenure system to locate, target, destroy, confiscate, cleanse, and gain revenue by way of the institutions and attributes comprising the system. Based on fieldwork with Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, this article describes seven ways the Syrian government is currently using the land and property rights system in its military-on-civilian engagements. While the objective of such use is presumably to permanently prevail over opposition civilian constituencies, the article describes how this actually creates evidence usable for effective restitution of lands and properties subsequent to the war. Introduction The ongoing civil war in Syria has emerged as a laboratory of new weapons used by the various sides in the conflict. While a number of these are purely kinetic-involving both crude and innovative forms of firepower, executions, troop movements and strategies-others take advantage of society based structures and institutions which facilitate targeting specific constituencies within the civilian population and then become attached to kinetic objectives. Statutory land and property rights systems are particularly vulnerable to being used in this way, with significant effect and lasting repercussions. While the Syrian government is not the first to use aspects of land and property rights systems in the pursuit of military objectives, it is the most current, egregious and sophisticated. This paper describes how the statutory land and property rights system has become an important weapon in the Syrian conflict with a number of uses, but with the ultimate counterinsur-gency strategic objective of spatially and permanently prevailing over the insurgency and its civilian constituencies. Permanently ridding certain landscapes of opposition supporters and replacing these with pro-regime inhabitants is just as important to the overall objective of 'prevailing' as is military victory over insurgent combatants for the Syrian government.

First and foremost, I want to thank Professor Paul Jablon for four years of academic, political, moral and psychological support throughout this process. Paul has been a "fellow traveler" as well as an advisor and chair, and it has been a pleasure to learn from and teach with him. Among many other lessons, he has always reminded me that the issues involved in teaching are seldom "academic"-for too many students, they are literally questions of life and death.

I wish to thank Dr. Wallace Warfield, dissertation committee chair, who has been there from my first day at ICAR through the end of this dissertation. As a practitioner and scholar, he has been an inspiring mentor. Dr. Linda Johnston"s encouragement, careful reading, and suggested revisions were invaluable to the process and product. Thanks also to Dr. Julianne Mahler who asked great questions, gave suggestions, and provided space. I greatly appreciated the encouragement and wisdom of Dr. Tamra Pearson d"Estree who fostered my interest in research on practice. I also thank Dr. Daniel Druckman for his enthusiasm for research and conceptual integration of theory, research and practice. For cheering me on, I give my thanks to many colleagues and friends at Eastern Mennonite University including Undergraduate Dean, Dr. Marie Morris. I thank Jane Wenger Clemens, and the faculty and staff at Suter House, including Elroy Miller, Terry Jantzi, Gretchen Maust, Deanna Durham, and Nancy Kirkmeyer, for sharing encouragement, space, and resources with me. Thanks also to Jayne Docherty for advice on the dissertation process and invaluable assistance in tracking down practitioners. To the faculty of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and my students in the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, thank you for continuing the conversation. For being patient, my JPCS students and the students in my classes have my gratitude. My appreciation also goes to family and friends who saw me at my worst and rarely at my best. Thanks to Marcia Stutzman, Stephanie Rhodes, and my mom, Charlotte Rhodes, for providing support in so many ways: especially many hours of babysitting, helping with housework, bringing meals, and making me laugh. I am deeply grateful for the love, support, and encouragement of my husband, Bradley Lehman. His systematic mind, proofreader inclinations and careful attention to detail helped to smooth out the rough edges. Also, for his hours and hours of parenting, cooking, washing dishes and generally being agreeable, I owe him a huge measure of thanks. Finally, I am privileged to have the energy and inspiration of our two children, Afton and Cormac, in my life, without whom I may have finished this work much sooner, but with less joy throughout. v TABLE OF CONTENTS

The historical novel From the Nile to the Jordan is an enthralling story about the "Second Exodus" of Jews from Egypt to Israel. This so far little-noticed aspect of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, could spread new light on the events of 1948, make the suffering of both sides public and bring the middle east one step closer to peace. Before 1948 there was a prospering community with 100,000 Jews in Egypt, today there are only few Jewish widows left. This book combines the well-researched historical facts based on Aharoni's research on the topic, as a professor of Sociology, with her personal perspective as a witness who had to leave Egypt as a young woman. This approach makes the book an eye-opener for an important chapter of Jewish history, that is widely unknown. Aharoni goes beyond the past, aiming at using the story of the "Second Exodus" as a tool for reconciliation, convinced that if Israel and Egypt can make peace, peace between Israel and Palestine is possible too.

mainly on the macro-level pattern of national attachment while the dynamics of the micro-level social network seems to be understudied, even though its importance is acknowledged by several authors (p. 116; p. 178; p. 328). A potential direction for further researches would be to include social network analysis to investigate the diffusion of information and national identification through interpersonal communication.

Since the dawn of the new millennium, humanity has been confronted with many problems. These include starvation, poverty, racism, ethnic hatred, wars, terrorism, genocide, environmental pollution, illegal immigration, violence, street crimes and intolerance. In order to solve these issues, education can play an important role; it can also render our world both pleasanter and kinder. Moreover, education can help students to develop skills for practical thinking, problem solving and cooperating with each other. Besides encouraging creativity, innovation and communication, peace education can drive students towards a more conscientious, tolerant, peaceful and democratic way of thinking.

Les partisans de la construction européenne ont toujours avancé que
celle-ci avait amené la paix. Pourtant, aucune étude scientifique n’a
jamais développé une approche critique d’une telle prétention. Pour
remédier à cette surprenante lacune, l’auteur établit une typologie qui
permet de reconstituer les deux conceptions principales qui s’opposent
autour de cette question : celle des européistes et celle des eurosceptiques.
La confrontation dialectique entre ces deux approches constitue
le fil rouge de l’ouvrage. Reprise dans chacun des chapitres, elle
permet, de dégager un point de vue synthétique visant à dépasser cette
opposi tion. L’auteur montre que la contribution de la construction
européenne à la paix se situe dans les nuances, se démarquant ainsi
des slogans irénistes des européistes tout en démontant les arguments
des eurosceptiques. Il conclut que l’UE ne pourra jamais empêcher
des dérives extrémistes et belligènes. Elle peut cependant en limiter
les dommages par les règles et les institutions que les Etats membres
se sont eux-mêmes imposés.

This thesis intends to disentangle the various understandings of hybridity in peace-building, while pointing out the weaknesses of its claims. Instead of considering it as an alternative to liberal peace-building, this work regards hybridity as a logical consequence of it, the same emperor in yet another set of new clothes (Richmond & Franks, 2008). Some of the criticism follows from within the discipline itself, drawing attention to the self-contradictory nature of some claims made by supporters of hybridity as well as the prevalence of established hierarchies and binaries. Another part of the critique targets the limited understanding of hybridity in peacebuilding at its source of post-colonial studies. Last, but not least it attempts to enhance the understanding of hybridity through the intersectional studies aiming at collapsing dominance structures and embracing plurality while realizing that this might as well signals the final stage in the gradual retreat of (liberal) peace-building. The question the thesis would ultimately wish to put, and maybe answer, is whether there is anywhere to go if hybridity fails? Would a response to fundamental criticism and different understandings of hybridity in peacebuilding mean an absolute end to external claims for any form of pre-eminence and whether the recognition of this finality would and should lead to the abandonment of peace-building interventions (in a form that we know them at least)? Albeit the last question seems to be easy to answer, emerging new pragmatist thinking might suggests otherwise (Chandler, 2016). Being an entirely conceptual work, this thesis resorts itself to an analysis of the discourse around hybridity in peacebuilding as well as the possible consequences of its failure.

This article is probing the Sri Lankan Ethnic conflicts and Tamil Diaspora, and the struggle of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. The ethnic war did end in 2009, with Sri Lankan government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, defeating Tamil Tigers, the Warriors, who represented for ethnic Tamils. Auxiliary, this article is exploring the likelihoods of how the deep rifts created in the last 25 years, and what exactly are the root causes for the rifts are creating the feeling of inequality and oppression; and for a candid democratic system, which encourages autonomy for Tamil dominated regions, which was vouchsafed by the Sri Lankan government.

Der Begriff bezeichnet jene Gewaltförmigkeit, die mit unserem Wissen zu tun hat. Diese verortet er in einer globalen Dimension von Ungleichverhältnissen, die immer auch Gewaltverhältnisse sind. Das klingt paradox, erstens, weil Wissen – das Epistemische – ja geradezu als Gegenmittel zu Gewalt verstanden wird, und zweitens, weil sich Wissenschaft als universelle Sprache der Gewaltlosigkeit zu inszenieren weiß. Diese Selbstverständlichkeit in Frage zu stellen ist eine Stärke des Begriffs »epistemische Gewalt«.

The main aim of this study is to explore the role of social identity in inter-group discriminatory behavioral patterns among the religious groups of Shiite and Sunni in the capital city of Pakistan. The theoretical framework of social identity proposed by Tajfel and Turner was utilized to look into socio-cognitive processes influencing the inter-group settings. For selection of the respondents from both religious groups, purposive sampling technique was utilized. The gathered data in the study was looked into with respect to the social identity theory. The results of the study suggested that socio-cognitive processes of social categorization, social identification and social comparison in the individuals resulted in discriminatory patterns in the inter-group relations among the Shiite and Sunni religious schools of thought. The data also illustrated that additional factors of international actor’s involvement, state policies, socialization process and real/ perceived deprivation inf...

An intriguing book that could very well leave thoughtful readers somewhat frustrated by the end. Beautifully written with a compelling and challenging main argumentthat the Westerndominated vision of Africa-as-victim or Africa-as-incompetent has to be replaced or at least challenged by new thinking to more accurately reflect the continent's place in a fast-changing worldthe book is too short to truly carry this banner on its own. More importantly, the manner in which the argument is constructed throughout the book, though eloquent, is not systematic in any form and therefore reads more like a collection of reflections and loosely-organized commentary. This is the true shame for it robs some of the potential from the work: everything is well-argued and the points made are important and thought-provoking. But when organized in such a manner it almost relegates itself to an audience of area studies specialists/political sociologists, who are used to and accept this style of investigatory writing. There is nothing wrong with this audience per se, except when one suspects the audience could be and indeed should be much wider. A very good book that could have been great.

este trabajo analiza los principales términos del Corán relacionados con el campo conceptual de la paz. El objetivo es poner de relieve la existencia de experiencias pacíficas en la naciente sociedad islámica que han quedado reflejadas en su lengua, contribuyendo al conocimiento de la cosmovisión de la paz en el Islam.

Invitation to Peace Studies is the first textbook in the field to emphasize 21st-century research and controversies and to encourage the more frequent use of a gender perspective in analyzing peace, war and violence. Recent empirical research forms the core of most chapters, but substantial attention is also given to faith-based ideas, movements, and peace pioneers. The book examines compelling contemporary topics like cyber warfare, drones, robots, digital activism, hactivism, the physiology of peace, rising rates of suicide, and peace through health. It is also unique in its use of a single coherent perspective--that of a global peace network--to make sense of the historically unprecedented and interconnected web of diverse ideas, individuals, groups, organizations, and movements currently promoting peace across the world.

Few subjects are as widely discussed in religious circles as War and Peace. Yet, as followers of Christ, we live in a world order run by sinners under the dominion of the Devil himself. Even so, religious people debate and argue over this multifaceted issue as if there is a more righteous position, condemning the world to its own trajectory. These positions range from Augustine's "Just Cause" to what is thought to be higher-minded notions like "Non-Resistance", "Non-Violence," or "Pacifism." As is usual, I will take you on a path right between all the thinking factions to present something that transcends the boundaries of the argument. I want to raise a more provocative thought as it relates to people whose aim it is to follow Christ and who see their citizenship to a different realm, yet while they live in this one.

In 2001, in response to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreement with China regarding conduct in the South China Sea, Odgaard (2001) optimistically described the cooperation as the beginning of a "new order". Odgaard remarked that, "The dispute highlights differences in the approach of the two entities to the balance of power, diplomacy, and international law…[and] the seeds of a new order emerge, representing a compromise between the security practices employed by China and Southeast Asia" (Odgaard, 2001, p. 292). As recent events have demonstrated,

El hilo conductor de este texto es el concepto de Cultura de Paz, que se abordará desde el punto de vista de los derechos humanos en clave de género. El concepto Cultura de Paz desmiente el mito de la inevitabilidad de la guerra y alude a la posibilidad, y responsabilidad, de los seres humanos de construir una cultura en la que se promueva la justicia y la transformación pacífica de los conflictos. En la construcción de esa cultura será fundamental tener en cuenta la contribución de la experiencia de las mujeres como constructoras de paz, un legado acompañado por el compromiso cotidiano con el cuidado y la sostenibilidad de la vida. Así uno de los pilares fundamentales del discurso de la cultura de paz, los derechos humanos, también se han visto enriquecidos, especialmente en la tercera generación de derechos humanos, con la incorporación de esta perspectiva de género. En el texto profundizamos y desarrollamos las contribuciones de una filosofía del cuidar para la refundación de la intersubjetividad siguiendo la tesis de Betty Reardon de que una Cultura de Paz es una Cultura del Cuidar.

A MINUSTAH (Missão das Nações Unidas para estabilização no Haiti) contou com a liderança militar do Exército Brasileiro, de 2004 a 2017, e teve como objetivo restabelecer a segurança e a normalidade institucional no Haiti após sucessivos episódios de turbulência política. Apesar da atuação de instituições, como as Forças Armadas, o Ministério das Relações Exteriores e do Governo Federal chamarem mais a atenção da mídia e dos analistas, a participação brasileira na MINUSTAH vai mais além do que a presença de entidades estatais. O envolvimento brasileiro na missão contou também com atores não estatais, da sociedade civil, que estavam, e ainda estão, presentes na tentativa declarada de pacificar e reconstruir o país caribenho. Um exemplo é caso da ONG brasileira Viva Rio, que desenvolve projetos de pacificação e mediação de conflitos urbanos nas comunidades de Porto Príncipe desde 2006. Apontada como um ator importante e um exemplo de iniciativa singular do modelo brasileiro de construção da paz, a Viva Rio ganhou destaque nas análises que se propuseram a explicar a participação brasileira na tentativa de reconstruir o Haiti. Com efeito, o objetivo deste trabalho é examinar a atuação da ONG Viva Rio no Haiti no contexto de uma missão de paz liderada pelo Exército Brasileiro. Argumentamos que, através da análise do caso da Viva Rio, podemos compreender algumas dinâmicas concretas sobre a participação brasileira na MINUSTAH de maneira mais precisa. A hipótese defendida é de que, por meio dos programas sociais e da prestação de serviços, a Viva Rio colabora para conquistar “mentes e corações”, pacificando a população das comunidades de Porto Príncipe. Os programas sociais e de mediação de conflitos ajudam a construir e aprimorar uma rede de governança que tem como principal objetivo administrar a sociedade civil e controlar as comunidades pobres de Porto Príncipe.

Points out how religion is power; power will be used by others--even the non-religious; when things go awry, then, religion is then blamed, often by the same ones who have exploited its power. This calls for critical and wary analysis of the rhetorical use of religion as a pawn, followed by its being blamed as a scapegoat.  Published in The Destructive Power of Religion; Violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, edited by J. Harold Ellens (4 volumes, Westport/London: Praeger Publishers, 2004), Vol. 2, 265-83.

Do social cohesion activities change the attitudes of the participants? This paper uses intergroup contact theory to explore attitude change resulting from contact with out-group(s) in social cohesion activities. Results from a pre-test/post-test design with fifty-five participants in two bicommunal camps in Cyprus show how attitudes change at the immediate end of these activities; an analysis of fourteen participants’ comments after one, thirteen, and twenty-five months provides a medium- to long-term assessment of attitude change. Not all participants were completely positive towards the other community before they took part, as assumed by some. There is clearly space for impact in terms of attitude change. Social cohesion activities represent indispensable tools for reducing prejudice and improving relationships between former enemies in post-conflict countries.