UN goal on peace requires bridge building between old and new powers

The Sustainable Development Goals set an ambitious peace agenda. For the first time security and violence is included in a global development framework. For that unique opportunity not to be wasted, continued diplomacy and political manoeuvring remains indispensable.

In this new DIIS Impact, senior analyst Louise Riis Andersen argues that the goal of promoting peaceful and inclusive societies remains contested. Some Member States, including so-called ‘new’ powers, are quite sceptical of what they regard as further securitization of the development agenda and a potential infringement on state sovereignty.

To establish a stronger and more effective global partnership for reducing violence and insecurity, especially in fragile states, the Impact recommends that advocates of the peace goal take valid concerns over the linking of security and development seriously. This implies reaching out to ‘new’ powers and refraining from formulating indicators of peace, security and governance that are overly prescriptive. Despite years of ‘lessons learned’, we still know very little of how to overcome fragility and insecurity through the building of effective and legitimate institutions.