From peacebuilding to sustaining peace: Implications of complexity for resilience and sustainability

Abstract

AbstractThis article applies complexity theory to the peacebuilding field and finds that for a peace process to become self-sustainable, resilient social institutions need to emerge from within, i.e. informed by the local culture, history and socio-economic context. International peacebuilders can assist this process, but if they interfere too much they end up undermining the self-organising processes necessary to generate and sustain resilient social institutions. A complexity-informed approach to sustaining peace suggests that international peacebuilders focus their efforts on safeguarding, stimulating, facilitating and creating the space for societies to develop resilient capacities for self-organisation.