The Liberal Peace and Post-War Reconstruction ─ Myth or Reality?

The post-Cold War has witnessed enormous levels of western peacekeeping, peacemaking and reconstruction intervention in societies emerging from war. These western-led interventions are often called ‘liberal peacebuilding’ or ‘liberal interventionism’, or statebuilding, and have attracted considerable controversy.

In this study, leading proponents and critics of the liberal peace and contemporary post-war reconstruction assess the role of the United States, European Union and other actors in the promotion of the liberal peace, and of peace more generally. Key issues, including transitional justice and the acceptance/rejection of the liberal peace in African states are also considered.

The failings of the liberal peace (most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also in other locations) have prompted a growing body of critical literature on the motivations, mechanics and consequences of the liberal peace. This volume brings together key protagonists from both sides of the debate to produce a cutting edge, state of the art discussion of one the main trends in contemporary international relations.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Global Society.

Roger Mac Ginty is a Reader at the School of International Relations, University of St. Andrews. He specialises in the study of conflict, political violence and conflict transformation. His last monograph was No War, No Peace: The rejuvenation of stalled peace processes and peace accord (Palgrave 2006).

Oliver Richmond is a Professor at the School of International Relations, University of St. Andrews, where he also directs the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. He focuses on the question of peace in IR and the study of conflict. His most recent publications were Peace in IR (Routledge, 2008) and The Transformation of Peace (Palgrave 2005).