What causes conflict and how can it be resolved? – A podcast

May 30, 2015 by IPB

From the ready availability of weapons to the marginalisation of women, many factors can push a population towards conflict

Hugh Muir and Clár Ní Chonghaile present this edition of the Global development podcast, which examines the factors that drive conflict, assesses the role women and the UN can play in peacebuilding, and asks what the sustainable development goals will do to help tackle the issue.

Gustavo de Carvalho, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, talks about the role of militarisation in driving conflict, while Laura Hammond, head of the development studies department at the School of Oriental Studies in London, argues that the ready availability of weapons and the marginalisation of women do nothing to promote peace. Both De Carvalho and Hammond identify economic factors as a key driver of conflict.

We also hear from Leymah Gbowee, the Nobel peace laureate and Liberian activist, who says women should be given more space to promote peace at national and international levels.

Debating the significance of these issues are Radhika Coomaraswamy, formerly the UN secretary general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, Maria Butler, director of the PeaceWomen project, and Colin Archer, secretary general of the International Peace Bureau. 

Listen to the podcast