Transconflict Serbia | NGO Serbia and the UK

In the past month, TransConflict has been pleased to welcome a host of new members of the  Global Coalition for Conflict Transformation , which works to uphold and implement the  Principles of Conflict Transformation . These new members from a variety of countries are: Belfast Interface Project -  Northern Ireland – is a membership organisation committed to informing and creating effective regeneration strategies [...]

Josip Glaurdic responds to a review of his new book, ‘The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia’ , by David B. Kanin, whose own response is also presented below. By Josip Glaurdic The twentieth anniversary of Yugoslavia’s breakup came and went without nearly the attention it warranted in the West. Perhaps that is fitting for [...]

Having realized that the north cannot simply be conquered, the Quint might finally be ready to recognize that something more than the bare outline of the Ahtisaari Plan may be required to unlock the status dispute. By Gerard M. Gallucci Signs have been building over the past few months that conditions for finding a compromise solution for north [...]

A regional tournament in Belgrade provided university students from throughout the Western Balkans with the opportunity to debate a variety of contemporary issues of relevance to the region and beyond. The fifth regional Debating tournament of the Faculty of Political Science, “Denny Crane 2012″, took place last week, with a final debate on the motion that [...]

Progress toward more effective management of regional disputes will be possible only if leaders emerge inside the region capable and willing to channel their own and their followers’ emotions toward negotiations everyone accepts from the outset will lead to painful sacrifices on everyone’s part. By David B. Kanin In a region burdened by frozen conflict, current events [...]

TransConflict is pleased to announce that it has become a signatory to the International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict. The International Campaign to Stop Rape and Gender Violence in Conflict calls for urgent political leadership and concerted international action to prevent, protect and prosecute to stop rape in conflict. In particular, the [...]

Unless the past is articulated in such a way in which the connection of events and experiences are integrated in a real and meaningful way, the ‘truths’ which drove conflict will continue to be reproduced. By Maire Braniff and Cillian McGrattan Recent debates in post-conflict Northern Ireland and the countries of the former Yugoslavia have increasingly centred [...]

Amidst a deteriorating economic environment, the Serbian electorate goes to the polls on May 6th with issues such as jobs and prosperity trumping those of Kosovo and the EU. By Ian Bancroft Serbia faces simultaneous presidential, parliamentary, provincial and local elections on 6th May; elections that will reflect the evolution in political attitudes and orientations since 2008. With a [...]

A new research film by the European CRIC Research Project analyses the unexpected outcomes of heritage reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina, twenty years after the outbreak of war. Researchers from the European CRIC Research Project (Identity and Conflict) have made a number of short films documenting the complex impact of the destruction and reconstruction of significant [...]

In the absence of a mutually-acceptable political outcome for northern Kosovo , the UN must be prepared to stay in the field and return, if necessary, its own international police force to stand with KFOR as the responsible peacekeepers. By Gerard M. Gallucci News on Kosovo is full of reporting based on a story published by Koha Ditore in [...]

With Sudan and South Sudan on the verge of all-out war , many local peacebuilding organizations are utilising the potential of women to act as peacemakers between communities in an attempt to thwart further violence. By Louise Hogan Less than a year after declaring independence, South Sudan is engaged in low-level violence with its northern neighbour, the Republic [...]

The Orthodox monasteries and the municipalities of Peć and Dečani have to start creating the basis for healthy community relations in order to ensure that the former become centres of inter-cultural dialogue, rather than a focus for conflict. By Reverend Donald Reeves MBE In early April, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, announced during a [...]

Prosecuting war crimes is only one of the prerequisites for transitional justice ; the lack of other effective mechanisms at the national and regional level explains, in part, the shortcomings of transitional justice in the former Yugoslavia. By Danijela Dobrota Transitional justice is one of the terms most frequently used by politicians (particularly when elections approach), the media [...]

With contemporary wars in Eastern Africa largely driven by economic motives and agendas which thrive under poor governance, countries need to believe in – and practice – good and democratic governance in order to ensure peace and stability. By Wamala Twaibu The nexus between good governance, peace and stability is important to understand both in theory and [...]

Kosovo faces two fundamental challenges – its still unsettled status and the economy – that will continue to inhibit its progress towards becoming a self-sustaining, economically prosperous, and socially stable country. By Gerard M. Gallucci I was recently invited to a discussion about Kosovo with a group from the United States Government. They wanted to look at the [...]

Over a decade on from the Good Friday Agreement, Belfast is yet to tackle the interfaces and contested spaces of the north of the city, or indeed to look to remove the walls that have for so long shaped the daily lives of the people living there; real peace does not need to be sustained or “secured” [...]

Al Jazeera Balkans is an island of media professionalism in the region ; building bridges between peoples, fostering a spirit of tolerance and reconciliation, and challenging the ‘Us’ and ‘Others’ narrative of many public broadcasters. By Dusan Babic “Al jazeera” in Arabic means “the island”; an abbreviation of the Arabic name for the Arabian peninsula. In addition, the [...]

Pristina’s illegal actions against Trepca North have brought its ability to operate and pay its thousands of workers and dependents to a grinding halt; a move that is unlikely to improve an already dangerously tense situation. By Gerard M. Gallucci For the past several months, the government in Pristina has been seeking to close one of the [...]

Almost three years on from the inaugural regional ministerial conference in Sarajevo, TransConflict participated in the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Conference for South East Europe in Belgrade, Serbia, on 11th April 2012. In a video address, Jorge Sampaio, the former president of Portugal and current High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, explained how, “the [...]

Josip Glaurdic’s ‘The Hour of Europe: Western Powers and the Breakup of Yugoslavia’ makes an extremely important contribution to the understanding not only of the period he covers, but also of the more general problem of how the United States and European Union behave toward the rest of the world. By David B. Kanin I am getting old; [...]