The Development/Peacebuilding Nexus: A Typology and History of Changing Paradigms

In the space of one decade, the nexus between development and peace has become a central focus of development thinking and practice. This article presents a typology and critical discussion of seven ways in which the development enterprise has conceived of its interactions with conflict and violence. These are: 1. Rhetorical repackaging: development by definition promotes peace; thus, no changes in development practice are required — only more of it; 2. Military conditionality: donors withdraw aid to punish recipients for their excessive military expenditure or military aggression. In its more positive version, security sector reform assists recipients with reform of their military, police, and judicial systems in ways that improve governance and decrease violence; 3. The post-conflict agenda: in countries coming out of war, aid agencies invest in new fields such as justice and reconciliation, demobilization and reintegration, and democratic policing; 4. The “Do No Harm” approach: minimise the negative impact of all humanitarian and development assistance under conditions of conflict; 5. The conflict prevention agenda: agencies undertake a range of early and preferably coherent and coordinated actions to prevent conflict from turning violent; 6. The concept of human security: “freedom from fear” and “freedom from want” are inseparable sides of the same coin; and, 7. The “global system reform” movement: infuses concerns with development and conflict nexus in all North-South relations of trade, investment, and consumption.