Peace Building in Northern Ireland
In our case, Robert the bald, stout and tattooed driver who took the article writer to a tour in June, was connected to a paramilitary termed as Ulster Defense Association that was responsible for killing hundreds. Robert had lots of fears like he wanted the writer to use his first name only, so as not to attract attention from authorities. This indicates a poor relationship between the government and the militias after the war between protestants and the Catholics enclaves in Northern Ireland. Fear, anger, and hostility were the norms of interaction left, and they caused distrustful and suspicious of other parties’ actions. The military was viewed as criminal and inferior. Through this, premilitary people and other parties felt hatred and alienation amongst one another.
Therefore, in our case, personal relationships with other people might help to lessen the problems related to conflict escalation. The reason being that, personal relationships humanize adversaries, increases the level of understanding and trust, and also improves communication. The two parties in our case can build sympathy and empathy, which inhibits hostile activity plus opens up opportunities for de-escalation. It also reduces the rate of misunderstanding. However, personal relationships can get established through members of the two opposing groups spending time together, playing together, working together and even living together as one group. Opportunities that can bring Robert and the opposers together are through professional meetings, trade unions, and other business interactions.
Another peacebuilding strategy that can get enacted is the application of confidence-building measures. To reduce fear among parties that are in conflicts, it is essential to build confidence plus a sense of security. Confidence makes parties behave more predictably, plus it lessens anxiety and suspicion. Common confidence-building methods are meant to assure a party that their opponents are not preparing to surprise them in military action.
In our case, Robert gets out of the van and shakes hand with a tour guide who was bald and dark sunglasses. Robert said that thirty years ago, they were trying to kill each other, and the other tour guide nodded in agreement. When Robert got back into the van, he told the writer that they were friendly but did not trust each other. This shows that they had fear and lacked confidence in each other.
Nevertheless, confidence-building measures and attributes can be impacted to build trust. Diplomatic and military measures can be used among Robert and his friends to build confidence among them. The method can get applied to alter the inaccurate perceptions among parties. It can be useful in predicting each other’s motives and avoid misunderstanding, which might otherwise reduce violent conflict provocation. The military men can exchange systematic armoury information on military missions which in hand might help build transparency.