Readers of this journal will be particularly interested in the extended examples of Idjwi (an island in Lake Kivu on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda) and Somaliland. This intuitive, comparative approach offers clear visions of two paths: one toward the default of violence, juxtaposed against what so-called ordinary people can achieve when they act on behalf of peace. The Frontlines of Peace is at its strongest when Autesserre relates detailed stories of surprisingly peaceful zones-places where violence is absent, or limited, despite the prevalence of violence nearby. In the foreword to the book, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Leymah Gbowee expresses appreciation for her focus on success, given that "analysts… keep telling us how and why we get things wrong, but they rarely explain what we can and do get right" (xi). With compelling stories of success from conflicts across the globe, Autesserre insists that peace is "something that already exists, and you can see it if you know where to look" (16). Séverine Autesserre's The Frontlines of Peace offers a refreshing reprieve from the traditional academic analysis of what goes wrong in peace-building.
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