Peacebuilding After Peace Accords

John Darby is professor of comparative ethnic studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he is also research director.Tristan Anne Borer is associate professor of government at Connecticut College.Siobhán McEvoy-Levy is associate professor of political science at Butler University.

"Forgiveness and reconciliation have been shown not to be nebulous, namby-pamby things. No, they are the stuff of realpolitik. The alternative, the way of revenge, of retribution, leads to a ghastly cul-de-sac—the spiral of reprisal-provoking counter reprisal ad infinitum, ending with no security, no peace, but a toll in human lives and property that is inexorable and exorbitant. It is not to be merely idealistic to say that without forgiveness there is no future; it is being a hard-nosed realist. Just ask the people of the Middle East and of Northern Ireland or Sri Lanka or Rwanda. True peace and real security will never come from the barrel of a gun, however overwhelming. Peace and security come because all enjoy justice and freedom. Peace and security come because it is acknowledged that people matter." —from the foreword by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu