Decades of research have taught us much about conflict, escalation, stalemate and de-escalation. However, relatively little research has focused directly on sustainable peace. There is often a basic assumption in conflict studies that a thorough understanding of mitigating the problem of destructive conflict will provide insight into conditions and processes that foster and sustain peace. This assumption, however, has been found by researchers to be erroneous. Although the lessening of openly destructive or violent conflict is likely a necessary condition for peace, there is no reason to believe it is a sufficient condition. However for the past 25 years anthropologist Douglas Fry has analyzed anthropological data on internally and externally peaceful societies in order to better understand the conditions and mechanisms that make peace sustainable. In a recent study focusing on the cases of the Upper Xingu River basin tribes of Brazil, the Iroquois Confederacy of upper New York State, and the European Union, Fry identified six features that characterize peaceful societies:
1. A common identity that promotes peace or an “expanded us” that unites in difference.
2. Positive bonds with neighbors, including a wide variety of interconnections such as shared values, norms, religion, and friendship.
3. Interdependence or unifying forces such as common agendas for cooperation and collaboration.
4. Values for peace or the perception of peace as an internalized value or even a moral imperative.
5. Symbolism and ceremonies that reinforce peace including rituals that reaffirming the societal commitment to peace.
6. High levels of governance for conflict management or institutions that provide mechanisms to accomplish the goals of promoting peace and preventing conflict.
According to Fry, learning more about the mechanisms that sustain cooperation and peacefulness in societies can provide important insights for fostering peace in other contexts. As Coleman has cautioned, research that has been conducted on the conditions that promote and prevent war, violence, aggression and conflict, although important and useful, are only half the story.
Coleman, P. T. (2012). The Missing Piece in Sustainable Peace. Editorial opinion published in State of the Planet, November 6, 2012. http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/11/06/the-missing-piece-in-sustainable-peace/ Fry, D. P. (2012). Life without war. Science, 336(6083), 879-884.