Issue

Conflict and Peace Building

Nearly 30 years after the Rwandan genocide, thousands of maimed amputees remind us of the war that took 500,000 lives in 100 days. War leaves marks that cannot be erased—not only in Rwanda, but on every continent.

Reporting from Conflict and Peacebuilding examines the roots of conflict, whether it be religious hatred, sectarian rivalry, a security vacuum, the struggle for natural resources, or the desperation that results from poverty.

Pulitzer Center journalists also cover war’s aftermath: the transitional governments that result in chaos, diplomacy that goes awry, peace talks that never end, and the people who suffer the consequences, young and old. We see the children who go hungry, lose their homes, leave school, become combatants, or join the jihad.

Often the end to conflict leaves turmoil in its wake while the road to peace seems circuitous: In South Sudan, rebel-commanders-turned politicians plunge the country into civil war. In the U.S., troops return home from one war only to be re-deployed to another. But everywhere, in every conflict, there are also voices crying out for peace, determined to heal the divide.

 

Conflict and Peace Building

25 Years of the Zapatista Movement

Both Tracey Eaton and Jared Olson have reported on the Zapatistas in Mexico—Eaton in 1994 and Olson almost 25 years later. Here, in a wide-ranging conversation they share experiences and insights into an enigmatic social movement.

Soudan du Sud Itinéraire d'un Enfant Soldat

In a still-nascent state, South Sudan, thousands of minors are enlisted in the government and rebel armed forces. The invisible victims of a conflict they have no control over.

This Week in Review: Escape From Timbuktu

Tom Hundley shares this weeks reporting on the rare manuscripts smuggled from inside Timbuktu's hallowed libraries, child laborers in Burkina Faso and a conflict free tin mining initiative in the DRC.

This Week in Review: Lessons in Failure

“Americans love success stories,” writes grantee Sam Loewenberg in a thought-provoking article that appeared in The New York Times this week. But failure can also serve a purpose.

This Week in Review: Game Changer

On the surface, Poland would not seem to have much in common with Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. But dig beneath the surface in both places and you find shale gas, a potential source of cheap energy.