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Community Policing Solutions for Religion-on-Religion Conflict: Lessons from an Indian Case Study

Author

Listed:
  • Vineet Kapoor

    (State Police Academy of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal 462001, India)

  • William Flavin

    (US Army Peacekeeping Institute, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA)

  • Peter Ochs

    (Religious Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA)

  • Thomas Matyók

    (Joint Civil-Military Interaction, Middle Georgia State University, Macon, GA 31206, USA)

  • Essam Fahim

    (Humanities and Social Science, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore 54792, Pakistan)

Abstract

UN peacekeepers face new conditions of conflict today, which call for expanded peacekeeping strategies. Among these new conditions is the increasing localization of violent conflict, especially among extra-state forces that are mobilized by ideological and religious passions. Responding to such challenges, the UN and its multinational partners attend increasingly to regional and local settings of intergroup tension and conflict. Among the consequences are greater emphasis on relations between UN peacekeeping and local police forces and on community policing. In this essay, we argue that these new peacekeeping directions are promising but lack one key dimension: attention to unique behavioral features of local, religion-on-religion conflict. Because such conflict plays an increasing role in location-specific tension and violence, it is increasingly important for peacekeepers to learn how to identify and analyze these unique features in real time and then reshape peacekeeping strategies accordingly. To illustrate how it is possible to do so, we introduce a detailed case study of successful community policing of religion-on-religion conflict: Muslim-Hindu intergroup conflict in Madhya Pradesh India.

Suggested Citation

  • Vineet Kapoor & William Flavin & Peter Ochs & Thomas Matyók & Essam Fahim, 2022. "Community Policing Solutions for Religion-on-Religion Conflict: Lessons from an Indian Case Study," World, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jworld:v:3:y:2022:i:4:p:47-857:d:936420
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Mvukiyehe, Eric & Samii, Cyrus, 2017. "Promoting Democracy in Fragile States: Field Experimental Evidence from Liberia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 254-267.
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