Conflict Resolution Studies Faculty Articles

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2011

Publication Title

United States Institute of Peace

Keywords

Peace conflicts, communities, non-violence

First Page

1

Last Page

6

Abstract

The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative empowers border communities to solve their own problems non-violently and to advocate for their own needs and aspirations non-violently with their own governments and with international actors.

The Pashtun tribal communities along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan are among the most-conflict affected in the world today. The populations of these regions were on the frontlines of the Cold War and they are on the frontlines of the global war on terror today. In addition, they are afflicted by long-standing tribal conflicts that are both aggravated by and contribute to national, regional, and global conflicts, as the parties to tribal conflicts attempt to manipulate and are manipulated by external forces. Finally, they are marginalized within the polities and economies of their own countries, but have often responded to their marginalization in ways that have been counter-productive.

The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative aims to empower border communities to solve their own problems non-violently and to advocate for their own needs and aspirations non-violently with their own governments and with international actors. The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative is a collaborative effort of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), led by Senior Program Officer Mary Hope Schwoebel and supported by Senior Program Officer Keith Bowen, the Welfare Association for the Development of Afghanistan (WADAN), and the Sustainable Peace and Development Organization (SPADO). The Initiative was launched in January 2010. Its culmination of the first phase of the initiative were two national conferences in Kabul and Islamabad in January and February 2011. The Cross-Border Dialogue Initiative is funded by the United States Agency for International Development through an interagency transfer.

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