Developmental Peace - by Wenting Meng (Paperback)

About the Book

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of China's role in international peacebuilding.

Book Synopsis

Peacebuilding seeks to resolve conflicts by addressing the root causes. Yet the dominant Liberal Peace approach has faced growing criticism for its limited attention to local conditions, state capacity, and the developmental foundations of peace. Against this background, Developmental Peace has emerged from the evolving peacebuilding practices of the Global South. It conceptualizes development through three dimensions--economic growth, effective governance, and the human right to development--and traces the transition from conflict economy through stability to sustainable peace.

Developmental Peace understands peace as both the goal and part of the process of peacebuilding. This processual understanding distinguishes it from approaches that treat peacebuilding as a predetermined institutional endpoint. It asks what kind of development contributes to what kind of peace, at what phase, and under what conditions. Drawing on extensive interviews and field research in China, South Sudan, and the Horn of Africa, the book brings together diverse local and international perspectives to advance a new framework for understanding plural pathways to sustainable peace.

Review Quotes

Developmental Peace will be of interest to students of China's evolving role in international peace and security, multilateral politics and conflict resolution.--Courtney J. Fung "The China Quarterly"

About the Author

Dr. Wenting Meng is an Assistant Professor in International Relations at East China Normal University. Her research interests include international peacebuilding, global governance, and international organizations, with a special focus on China's engagement with the United Nations. She was awarded the Peace Fellowship by the Social Science Research Council and has conducted field research on peacebuilding projects in South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya. She holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from Peking University and previously worked at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the United Nations University in Macau.