Crisis in Conflict and Peace-building

It is not a secret that conflict and peace-building are in crisis. Through work on various conflicts, Emma realized that it wasn't just the lack of peace that was a concern, but also the lack of aspiration to pursue it. Emma is working on a range of interventions designed to better understand this phenomenon and propose actionable and ambitious solutions. 

Emma published a piece outlining the reasons for, and impact of, the current crisis in conflict and peacebuilding [A World At War] in Foreign Affairs Journal in October 2023 alongside her colleague Peter Salisbury. This work was followed by a piece in The New Humanitarian [We Cannot Hope To End Wars If We Are Not Honest About What They Are], which examined the language used to describe conflict and what that means for policy aspirations. 

These published pieces were underpinned by a major project proposal that seeks to reignite the pursuit of transformative and positive peace. Working with the European Institute of Peace, Emma conceptualized a major programme of work designed to bring a coalition of actors together to champion peace and security. Central to this is the use of the private sector, which is now more attuned to the risks of conflict and geopolitical competition than ever. Global security represents a commons that international businesses have used for decades to pursue their interests, and maintaining it is in their interests. At a time when the public sector is struggling to maintain order on its own, global business has a necessary role to play in helping to secure a new way forward. Emma has been speaking to business leaders one-on-one and in public events, highlighting this thinking and the role they must play in a more peaceful future. 

Emma is working on a book for Polity Press called A World At War (working title), which explains and unpacks the crisis in conflict and peace-building. There is currently more war that lasts longer than at any time since World War Two. Changes in warfare, geopolitics, international norms, and peacemaking are all to blame. The response is reduced ambitions. The impact is growing aid bills, displacement, and insecurity. The current trajectory is unsustainable. A World at War unpacks how and why we got here and what it all means, orienting the reader toward the paradigm shifts necessary to course correct and quell the flames of conflict. Alongside this, Emma co-hosts a podcast dealing with these issues called This Is Not a Drill.