Center for European Studies
Dr. Burcu Gültekin, research fellow at the CES, took part in the strategy and planning meeting of The Economy and Conflict Project of International Alert (www.international-alert.org) organized in Kiev on May, 19-22. International Alert is a London based international NGO that works to build sustainable peace in countries and communities affected or threatened by violent conflict. This project is part of a wider programme of work by International Alert aimed at promoting a positive link between business and peacebuilding.
Burcu Gültekin is a member of The Economy and Conflict Research Group of the South Caucasus, a group of researchers from Tbilisi, Sukhum/i, Tskhinval/i, Yerevan, Stepanakert/Khankendi, Baku and Istanbul/Ankara that seeks to explore economy-related
peacebuilding opportunities in the region. The research project, facilitated by the conflict transformation NGO International Alert, aimed both to examine the nature of economies in
the region with a view to exploring economy-related peacebuilding opportunities and to promote dialogue and cooperation between the researchers themselves. Working relationships between ECRG members fostered by the project were an important component as they all hail from different sides of the conflict divides and have different perspectives on the issues.
The Economy and Conflict Research Group project
The Group published the findings of its research in a book, From War Economies to Peace Economies in the South Caucasus (The executive summary of the book From War
Economies to Peace Economies in the South Caucasus can be found at
http://www.international-alert.org/pdfs/War_Economies_xsum.pdf). The book aimed to explore how a better understanding of the region’s current economic dynamics might contribute to the resolution of its conflicts. It is the first book to examine this topic from the perspectives of those living in the region - the authors are members of the Economy and Conflict Research Group; a pool of experts from throughout the South Caucasus, covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and including Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.
The Caucasus Business & Development Network
The Economy & Conflict Research Group developed into a group of advocates for peace through economic means. They went on to establish the Caucasus Business & Development Network(http://www.caucasusbusiness.net/), which will lay the foundations for a community of businesspeople engaging in cross-conflict dialogue and economic cooperation. The Caucasus Business & Development Network is one of the most innovative and cutting-edge peacebuilding initiatives in the South Caucasus, using economic factors and incentives to analyse and address the underlying causes of the regional conflicts. It is now starting to build on its achievements, by, for example:
· Creating permanent confidence-building mechanisms through the strenghtening of the regional network and establishing local business development centres that will cooperate with each other across the region
· Deepening and expanding analysis of the conflict dimension of the regional economies, in particular economic incentives for the perpetuation of the conflicts, and researching possible ways of turning these into incentives for peace
· Strengthening the capacity of economic actors operating within or on the region to better understand their impacts on the conflict and to find practical ways of modifying their perceptions.
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