What does War Prevention mean?

14 Jan 2004

Author - Dr. Scilla Elworthy

What does War Prevention mean?

What does War Prevention actually mean? While the term is in common currency in Europe, it is still unfamiliar in the UK and more so in the US. It means the systematic use of proven non-aggressive methods to prevent or stop killing, and may include:

• peace-keeping
• the introduction of trained inspectors to detect and report killing, ethnic cleansing, torture, rape and other forms of violence
• civilian protection
• control of arms entering the region
• incentive schemes to collect weapons
• law enforcement
• bringing warlords and militias under control
• muscular support for locally-based opposition to dictators
• providing independent information daily
• training of mediators and bridge-builders
• active reconciliation measures