Annual Report 2007

Peace and violent conflict are high on the agenda of governments and international organisations. It is an indication of the seriousness of the problem, but also of the political will to do something about it. The language used is not always consistent and sometimes contested. Some would say that the term ‘fragile states’ is colonial condescending language, others would say that ‘confl ict management’ is better than ‘conflict prevention’, because how can we ever establish that an instance of violent conflict has been prevented?