The Question of Local Involvement in the Peace Process
(posted on behalf of Angela R. Swayze, who recently served as an election observer in Nigeria with the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs)
I’d like to hear more discussion about how traditional and community level methods of mediation are currently faring given the history of government undermining these practices. In response to Martha Bixby’s question on the role American activists should play in the peace process, Alex de Waal cited a recent Washington Post op-ed by Julie Flint maintaining that some areas of Darfur may be moving towards communication on a local level. But community unification and control over some aspects of the peace process pose a significant threat to those currently in power, more so than outside intervention. So then, what is going on there today?
