Conflict prevention in the 21st century
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 4, 2016
ANNEX 6: Partnerships in Conflict Prevention: China and the UK
Project update: Issue 4
The CPWG were in London in early September for the fourth round of meetings looking at UK-China cooperation on conflict prevention.
CPWG activities have been broadly structured around three central pillars of the UK Government's BSOS. After introductory meetings in September 2014, the CPWG focused on crisis response in November 2014 and early warning in April 2015 (see project updates Issue 1, Issue 2, and Issue 3). The most recent meetings, which are detailed in this project update, addressed upstream conflict prevention, defined by Saferworld as "a long-term approach that seeks to understand and respond to the underlying causes of conflict and instability before they result in violence".
As the project starts to draw to a close, the CPWG have also begun to consider their recommendations.
CPWG Workshop IV: Upstream Conflict Prevention
During this workshop the CPWG looked at the different perceptions and modalities of upstream conflict prevention, and sought to identify synergies between the UK and Chinese approaches, and potential opportunities for cooperation.
The CPWG recognized that upstream conflict prevention is an elusive and constantly evolving term, and debated whether the term is useful, or whether it is just existing peace building terminology which has been repackaged to suit a new fashion. It was acknowledged that upstream conflict prevention sets out to promote 'positive' peace by focusing more clearly on the root causes of conflict. However, questions were raised about the extent to which the upstream conflict prevention agenda should come into play even when conflict is not ongoing or imminent in order to better promote positive peace and prevent conflict. These are timely questions for the UK Government as it reviews its existing policies and priorities ahead of the new National Security Strategy and SDSR, which are both due to be published later this year, and which will require various actors across government to both define both upstream conflict prevention, and their role within it.
Chinese conflict prevention efforts tend to be underpinned by the idea that development leads to peace; as opposed to the common Western stance that peace is a precursor to development. For this reason, China's principles of international engagement tend to remain constant, with an overriding focus on economic development and with 'no strings attached', regardless of whether there is peace or ongoing violent conflict. Western, or UK, approaches in comparison are often concerned that development efforts can be detrimental if they are not 'conflict sensitive'. It was suggested during the workshop, however, that in practice (as opposed to theory) there is not such a great difference in approach. China's conflict prevention efforts are often compatible with the ideal of upstream conflict prevention because, in focusing on economic development, they tend to address one of the most common root causes of conflict. Similarly it is increasingly understood in Western policy making circles that economic development needs to underpin relatively short term efforts towards 'stabilization'.
Complementarity between the approaches of the UK and China was therefore evident and there was also consensus amongst the CPWG that there is scope for China and the UK to cooperate more in this area. It was suggested that the prospect of cooperation would likely appeal to the Chinese Government given their ambition to make their own development efforts more effective while understanding how to minimize any negative side effects, such as those linked to corruption.
With the SDGs as a potential unifying framework, it was suggested that the two countries may be able to increase their cooperation in a number of different areas, although given their differing starting positions and that China has domestic development targets to meet, this may not be that straightforward. In contrast it was felt that there were very few obstacles to further, more wide ranging dialogue in this area.
In general terms, multilateral channels such as the UN are thought to be more suitable entry points for cooperation given the unease with discussing approaches involving third parties on a bilateral basis.
It was also suggested that China's existing framework of engagement with Africa through the FOCAC, and the developing, African Union sponsored, CAP on the post-2015 process may be a point where common interests intersect and opportunities for collaboration arise.
Beyond the more formal government to government route, there are other significant opportunities for cooperation and dialogue in upstream conflict prevention. One area that came up in discussion was the potential for cooperation between economic actors in conflict prone contexts, where the development of conflict sensitive business practices are vital.
Further suggestions for how this cooperation could be operationalized are discussed further in an upcoming briefing on Upstream Conflict Prevention and the SDGs, authored by the CPWG.
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