Not all good things come together, and we can't have it all tomorrow. Remarkable interveners understand that building peace sometimes requires baby steps, and they look to local people as a guide for which foot to start on.

...international peacebuilders usually arrive in new theaters of deployment with a clear sense of belonging to a specific group – a group markedly different from local populations.

At first glance, one might assume that a peacekeeping soldier from Pakistan, a diplomat from the United States, and a human rights advocate from Senegal would approach their jobs quite differently. Yet, while in Congo for a previous research project, I observed striking similarities in the ways that international interveners understand the situations they face and in the strategies they adopt, despite their otherwise extremely different national, professional, social, and economic backgrounds.

Throughout Peaceland, inequality permeates the relationships between interveners and local stakeholders.

[R]ight when it's at its hardest, right when you want to give up most, that's when your commitment to the long term is most important. Because unlike you, the people you want to help can't just leave.

[Right] when it's at its hardest, right when you want to give up most, that's when your commitment to the long term is most important. Because unlike you, the people you want to help can't just leave.

Many domestic activists focus their efforts on top-down changes such as national elections and state policies--and despair when they fail to reach their goals....Bottom-up activism can help address the racial, ethnic, religious, and political issues that divide not just places like Congo or Colombia, but also the societies of non-war countries.

Remember that change happens slowly and progress must be continuously preserved... The process is just as important as the outcome--sometimes even more so. And when things get rough, remember how much of a difference a committed individual can make.

Even though the Congo is the stage of intense international peacebuilding efforts, and even though it recently experienced a transition from war to “peace and democracy,” it continues to be plagued by the deadliest conflict since World War II. Why did the international intervention fail to help the Congo achieve lasting peace and security?

Contrary to what most politicians and interveners preach, outside experts, national leaders, and top-down approaches are not the only means to reestablishing peace. Bottom-up initiatives can also make a difference, and ordinary people have the capacity to address some of the deeper roots of their country’s problems.