Research and practice in peace and conflict studies: Directions for the next decade

In my view, during the coming decades, research in peace and conflict studies will be characterized by work on nonstate actors, identities, structural inequalities, and multilateral action. Our interdisciplinary research in these areas will be aimed at consolidating our understandings of these factors at all levels of society, from the individual to the macro. It will then: (i) develop understandings of how the dynamics of actions at each level affect and are affected by the other levels, and (ii) develop strategies as to how to promote constructive change in these dynamics, leading to the integration of theory with practice. I turn to some brief comments on each of these areas.