Creating Future Opportunities for Peace

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Aceh, Sri Lanka, and Kashmir have all experienced conflict and then disaster. Their starkly different post-disaster trajectories offer critical lessons for conflict resolution, exemplifying the diversity of roles that the government, military, disaster relief, and conflict resolution communities can play when opportunities for peace arise.

These examples also provide insight into the complex post-disaster dynamics and unique local contexts that can make or break fleeting opportunities for peace. While local sensitivities can be overpowering, some larger lessons hold true for most cases: for instance, compassion alone is unlikely to carry warring factions through the complexities of a peace process. Only when all sides have decided they are ready to address the root causes of the conflict—grievances, inequities, and discordant goals—will a political formula for peace be possible.