Personal Peacebuilding and COVID-19

Personal peacebuilding is a form of nonviolent learning and action associated with self-knowledge, wellness, and positive encounter with others and the nonhuman world. In personal peacebuilding, the "peacebuilder” is the work. This chapter introduces the four facets of personal peacebuilding as complementary avenues or approaches where the act of being-with results in nonviolence. Following a brief exploration of the breadth of peacebuilding and an encapsulation of Encounter Theory, this chapter theorizes personal peacebuilding as physiological, interpersonal, immanent/transcendent/biotic, and social. These four facets generate eight principles of personal peacebuilding including: care, patience, understanding, compassion, inquiry, alignment, reflection, and action. After describing personal peacebuilding, this chapter encapsulates life stresses under COVID-19 including domestic violence, child abuse, gendered inequality of labor, and suicide and then establishes how to actuate the eight principles of personal peacebuilding using the novel coronavirus pandemic as a fulcrum of intervention. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022. All rights are reserved.

Pandemics, health diplomacy, and peacebuilding 1

The articles in this special issue address such questions as: How do states approach global health issues? How have they utilized health diplomacy and for what purposes? What are the principal challenges? How do pandemics affect conflict, and vice versa? Has health diplomacy effectively addressed global health concerns particularly in conflict-torn societies? This special issue contributes to our understanding of pandemics, health diplomacy, and peace by highlighting issues associated with responses to global health issues and health diplomacy. The articles offer novel perspectives for analyzing the prospects for global health and security. © The Author(s) 2023.

When the Secular Meets the Sacred : Islamic Peace Model for Post-COVID Muslim-Majority War-Torn Contexts

The recent crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has put an additional strain on academia to find solutions to advance peace, especially in war-torn, underdeveloped, and ethno-linguistically fragmented societies such as those in the MENA region. Given the religio-cultural heritage of its people, it was quite natural for the current research to engage with a new Islamic peace model with the intention of gaining some clarity on the possibility of its application. The methodological framework is based on the main normative religious text and is simultaneously informed by the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The study’s findings render the model difficult to be implemented without the erection of certain provisionary structures, which would create a strong institutional and morally saturated foundation to secure long-lasting peace.

The Three Conditions: Solving Complex Problems through Self-Governing Agreements

Grounded in peacebuilding and negotiation literature, we propose a Three Conditions Model that promotes collaborative engagement and can help advance sustainable solutions to complex problems – domestic and international – through self-governing agreements based on the following three conditions: (1) inclusion of, (2) common understanding among, and (3) trust between all prime actors. Collectively, these conditions make the management of complex problems, and of the conflicts arising from them, more effective and sustainable. Using the coronavirus pandemic as an example, we briefly illustrate the nature of complex problems and self-governing agreements, address the inclusion-trust dilemma that mars many negotiations and assess the utility of each condition to address the coronavirus response in the United States more effectively. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Negotiation is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Love and peace across generations: Biobehavioral systems and global partnerships.

Children's environments - especially relationships with caregivers - sculpt not only developing brains but also multiple bio-behavioral systems that influence long-term cognitive and socioemotional outcomes, including the ability to empathize with others and interact in prosocial and peaceful ways. This speaks to the importance of investing resources in effective and timely programs that work to enhance early childhood development (ECD) and, by extension, reach communities at-scale. Given the limited resources currently devoted to ECD services, and the devastating impact of COVID-19 on children and communities, there is a clear need to spur government leaders and policymakers to further invest in ECD and related issues including gender and racial equity. This essay offers concrete examples of scholarly paradigms and leadership efforts that focus on child development to build a peaceful, equitable, just, and sustainable world. As scholars and practitioners, we need to continue to design, implement, assess, and revise high-quality child development programs that generate much-needed evidence for policy and programmatic changes. We must also invest in global partnerships to foster the next generation of scholars, practitioners, and advocates dedicated to advance our understanding of the bio-behavioral systems that underlie love, sociality, and peace across generations. Especially where supported by structural interventions, ECD programs can help create more peaceful, just, and socially equitable societies.

Pathways to a more peaceful and sustainable world: The transformative power of children in families.

This article provides an overview of selected ongoing international efforts that have been inspired by Edward Zigler's vision to improve programs and policies for young children and families in the United States. The efforts presented are in close alignment with three strategies articulated by Edward Zigler: (a) conduct research that will inform policy advocacy; (b) design, implement, and revise quality early childhood development (ECD) programs; and (c) invest in building the next generation of scholars and advocates in child development. The intergenerational legacy left by Edward Zigler has had an impact on young children not only in the United States, but also across the globe. More needs to be done. We need to work together with a full commitment to ensure the optimal development of each child.