Destruction and Reconstruction: Capitalizing on Peace-Building Under Neoliberalism
Conflicts continue to rage in various parts of the world, including Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria, Western Sahara, and Gaza. As these regions strive for peace, a holistic and locally-grounded approach to recovery is essential. This approach, rooted in the principles of broad-based, inclusive economic recovery, aims to avoid reinforcing the same power structures that benefited from war.
One key element of this approach is the strengthening of indigenous leadership and institutions that survived the conflict. These local platforms, grounded in the community, provide feasible avenues for recovery efforts. Policies should be designed to build on social practices and interactions, ensuring recovery efforts are self-sustaining and not dependent on external actors.
Another crucial aspect is the incorporation of natural resource and environmental management into peacebuilding strategies. This approach leverages shared resource governance as a pathway to cooperation and peace. By prioritizing sustainable development, social protection systems, and equitable economic growth, we can move away from economic models that concentrate wealth and power in elites, often fueling conflict.
In the realm of alternative economic models, a focus on people-centered development, social protection, full employment, and sustainable resource management is paramount. This shift away from capital-centric models is crucial for a peaceful recovery. Economic multilateralism oriented around full employment and social welfare, as originally manifested in the post-World War II Bretton Woods institutions, emphasizes macroeconomic stability and shared political aims to secure peace.
However, the application of these principles has been met with criticism. In Afghanistan, the neoliberal approach has nurtured a protracted conflict within Afghan society, feeding off food insecurity, poverty, civilian casualties, and other harms. Similarly, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the neoliberal peace-building model has been challenged for compounding conflicts and inequalities.
Feminists around the world have demanded a bottom-up approach to political and economic processes, free from imperialist interests and geopolitical scheming. In Ukraine, Ukrainian feminists have called for a radically different approach to recovery - a feminist one based on the principle of social solidarity, aligned with international commitments to women's human rights.
The international community and local political elites have been criticized for treating the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as those in Ukraine, as if they had no political agency. Cynthia Enloe, a prominent feminist thinker on militarism, has shown that militarism is deployed to foster societal support for and normalisation of war agendas.
Total global military expenditure in 2023 reached an all-time high of 2.44 trillion US dollars. This stark figure underscores the need for a shift towards peaceful, people-centered recovery strategies. As we move forward, it is essential to learn from the lessons of the past and prioritize the needs of people and the environment in our recovery efforts.
References:
- International Alert
- United Nations Development Programme
- Feminist Peace and Security Studies
- The Brookings Institution
- The New Humanitarian
Politics and general news should report on the ongoing war-and-conflicts in various regions, such as Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Syria, Western Sahara, and Gaza, highlighting the need for a holistic, locally-grounded approach to recovery that avoids reinforcing power structures benefiting from war. This approach, as advocated by international organizations like the United Nations Development Programme and think tanks like The Brookings Institution, focuses on strengthening indigenous leadership, designing policies to build on social practices, and incorporating natural resource and environmental management into peacebuilding strategies to promote sustainable development and equitable economic growth. In contrast, neoliberal economic models, criticized by feminists and scholars like Cynthia Enloe, have been linked to protracted conflicts and inequality in Afghanistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
