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Challenging conventional wisdom that powerful states do as they will and small states do as they must, this article advances an analysis of small states and the role they can play as agents of change in the area of peace and security. Insights from constructivist research on foreign policy contribute to explain why some small states adopt norm entrepreneurship as a diplomatic strategy and how such strategy helps small states punch above their weight in international relations. The article is based on an in-depth case study of Sweden as a norm entrepreneur promoting the norm pertaining to the prevention of violent conflicts in the EU and UN, and it assesses the impact of the following strategies used by such a norm entrepreneur: norm construction, agenda-shaping, coalition-building, and support of institutionalisation. Adapted from the source document.

Dag Hammarskjold died in a plane crash on 17 September 1961 on route to Ndola, Zambia, to negotiate an end to fighting between UN troops and the break-away Katanga army. The Rhodesian-led inquiry commission in 1961-62 concluded that a pilot error caused the crash while the UN commission in 1962 was inconclusive. These commissions neglected to actively search for Zambian witnesses of black African origin and neglected the testimonies from those that were heard. A systematic search during 2007-12 identified ten previously unknown Zambian eye witnesses whose testimonies provide sufficient new information to justify a new UN inquiry into the cause of the crash. Adapted from the source document.

The added theoretical value of this research is to bridge the gap between two different theoretical traditions that rarely engage with each other, but that have great potential to generate new theoretical as well as empirical insights. In doing so, we offer new concepts and an original theoretical framework for understanding the role of public administrations and their capacity for addressing conflicts in different democratic contexts. The programme also adds a practical value as it will transfer knowledge and expertise concerning tools for how public administrations and civil servants in conflictual settings can move beyond societal exclusion and conflict to craft policy solutions and generate democratic capacity for long term sustainability. These research based policy recommendations may assist practitioners within public administration and could have an important impact on the works of local administrations and thereby citizens' lives in various democratic settings. Adapted from the source document.

This article is rooted in the understanding that global ideas of liberal democratic peace and the gendered dynamics of peacebuilding need to be confronted. The aim is to explore the challenges of localizing liberal democratic peace by exploring efforts such as those undertaken by women's organizations in Bosnia-Herzegovina to promote a gender-just peace. The Dayton Peace Accord was the new "social contract" that set the standard for postwar societies. The gendered hierarchies built into this peace and the absence of women in the peace process created a "peace gap" that was gendered despite the fact that gender empowerment has become a standard tool in international peacebuilding. The post-Dayton peace process was characterized by a conservative backlash which has become a hallmark of women's postwar experience. Adapted from the source document.

In June 2001 the European Council adopted the EU Programme for the Prevention of Violent Conflict. The story of how conflict prevention became an integral and legitimate part of EU policy and practice illustrates the influence of powerful ideas and successful norm advocacy of a small state managing to punch above its weight in the EU. The aim of this article is to analyse norm advocacy as a potent addition to traditional strategies of gaining influence in the Union. By tracing the process of Swedish promotion of conflict prevention the article explores norm advocacy strategies, such as framing, agenda-setting, diplomatic tactics and the power of the Presidency. The EU institutional setting also provides ample opportunities for a small state to exert normative power, and in areas where great powers are generally regarded as dominant, such as the CFSP and the ESDP. Adapted from the source document.

Exploring the myth or reality of the powerless small state, this article offers a re-examination of Nordic internationalism by introducing the concepts of Nordic normative power and norm entrepreneurship. A discussion of Swedish norm advocacy within the UN provides an illustration of norm entrepreneurship as a contingent foreign policy approach for small states. By using norm entrepreneurship as a foreign policy strategy, small states may be able to 'punch above their weight' in international politics. Adapted from the source document.

The story of how conflict prevention became an integral and legitimate part of Swedish foreign policy illustrates the relationship between successful practices and powerful ideas. This article suggests that the demonstration of an idea in practice empowers the idea and contributes not only to its selection, but also to its framing and institutionalization within foreign policy. Hence, the article sets out to explore the relationships between practice, ideas and foreign policy. Adopting a social constructivist perspective, the article provides a detailed process-tracing of the construction of a Swedish conflict prevention policy and concludes that conflict prevention was a powerful idea because it was morally appealing and persuasive as well as successfully demonstrated in practice. In fact, preventive practices spearheaded the advancement of the conflict prevention idea. In addition, the idea resonated with the Swedish foreign policy elite, with commonly held values and with the traditional Swedish foreign policy that stressed internationalism and solidarity. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright 2007 NISA.]

By applying a social constructivist perspective this article investigates whether the preventive peacekeeping mission to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia contributed to altering or sustaining norms of international peacekeeping. In addition, the article is concerned with if & how the UN mission UNPREDEP functioned as a channel of diffusion of international norms pertaining to peaceful conflict resolution to Macedonia. The article suggests that UNPREDEP provided the international community with an opportunity for norm diffusion. Furthermore, by allowing the emerging norm of conflict prevention to guide peacekeeping efforts in Macedonia, the norm was strengthened & the ambitions to promote the norm globally, as well as locally, were supported. Adapted from the source document.

The question of whether the European Union's policies are having a normative influence upon Macedonia's development is addressed; in addition, the extent to which Macedonia has incorporated the European Union's policies into its developmental structure is considered. An overview of the European Union's normative influence throughout the European region is presented, emphasizing the negotiation of individual identities with a European identity & highlighting the normative core values that form the foundation of the European Union. After examining the European Union's efforts to establish common normative values within Macedonia, primarily via the possibility of European integration, the issue of whether Macedonia has accepted the European Union's normative values is pondered. Despite the attraction of becoming part of the European Union, it is noted that some resistance to Macedonia's acceptance of European Union norms has emerged. The efficacy of localization & socialization processes in facilitating normative transition in present-day Macedonia is also considered. It is concluded that the asymmetrical relationship between the European Union & Macedonia does not necessarily mean that the latter will accept the former's normative values but that Macedonia has generally been receptive to European Union norms. J. W. Parker

The article explores the possibility for peace operations to function as a channel for diffusion of norms & values, & it attempts to identify conditions & circumstances conducive to the diffusion of cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitanism is here regarded as a political alternative to nationalism, & cosmopolitan values are perceived to stand in opposition to identity politics & other exclusive ideologies. Hence, cosmopolitanism may contribute to create conditions for peaceful conflict resolution & the prevention of conflict, & norms pertaining to conflict prevention are considered to have cosmopolitan characteristics. Hence, the diffusion of norms pertaining to conflict prevention may more specifically contribute to impede conflict. The UN mission UNPREDEP & the EU missions Coneordia & Proxima to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are analyzed to explore their capability to promote cosmopolitanism & diffuse norms such as those pertaining to the prevention of violent conflicts. The analysis suggests that both the UN mission & to a greater extent the EU missions provided opportunities to diffuse a cosmopolitan vision emphasizing conflict prevention to Macedonia. Cosmopolitanism was promoted as a long-term preventive strategy & as an alternative to the identity-based polities that caused inter-ethnic tensions between the majority of ethnic Macedonians & the largest minority consisting of ethnic Albanians. References. Adapted from the source document.

A systematic approach to analyzing some of the transient aspects of war and peace with empirical cases that include Iraq, Israel-Palestine, Sri Lanka, and the Armenian genocide, this book discusses some of the critical and transformative issues in war and peacemaking. Considering subjects such as the roles of private military and security companies, the use of force in peace-support operations, how states, organizations, and individuals contribute to conflict resolution, and the challenge of coordinating various peacemaking efforts, this study explores the manifold demands and challenges facin