Oliver P. Richmond

Oliver P. Richmond's "primary area of expertise is in peace and conflict theory, and in particular its interlinkages with IR theory. He is interested in how critical approaches to international theory impact upon debates about conflict and peace, and is currently working on a book project on concepts of peace and their implicit usages in IR theory. He published "The Transformation of Peace" in 2005. This was funded by a Leverhulme Fellowship and examined the conceptualisation of peace, and in particular the construction of the 'liberal peace' in post- conflict zones.

"He is currently co-directing projects on 'Liberal Peace Transitions' (funded by the Carnegie Trust), Orthodox Terrorism and Liberal Peacebuilding (funded by the British Academy), 'Rethinking the Liberal Peace' (funded by the UN University and University of St Andrews) and 'Ethnic Sovereignty in the Balkans' (funded by the Nuffield Trust). He is also involved with a PRIO project on the 'Ethics of Liberal Peace'. He has also recently finished working on projects on 'Challenges to Peacebuilding: Managing Spoilers During Conflict Resolution' (funded by the UN University in Tokyo), and a British Academy funded project on 'Securitisation in the Eastern Mediterranean'. He has been involved in fieldwork in Cyprus and Turkey, Kosovo, Bosnia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, East Timor, as well as in the Eastern Congo region. He is also on the editorial team of the Review of International Studies.

"Another further aspect of his work involves the establishment of a Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, which houses the 'Liberal Peace Transitions' and ‘Orthodox Terrorism and Liberal Peace’ projects, mentioned above. This centre is the first of its kind in Scotland, and aims to stimulate and facilitate new thinking in theoretical and empirical terms in the area of peace and conflict studies. The centre's research projects, conducted by Oliver Richmond and by the centre's full time research fellow, Dr. Jason Franks, involves theoretical and comparative fieldwork in a number of post-conflict peacebuilding sites.

"He also edits a Palgrave Book Series called Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies, which seeks to provide a forum for the development of new and alternative approaches for understanding the dynamics of conflict and of the construction of peace."

Publications

• Peace in IR Theory: The Forgotten Agenda, Routledge, forthcoming 2007.

• “Global Communication and IR”, Special Issue of Review of International Studies, co-edited with Costas Constantinou and Alison Watson, forthcoming 2008.

• "The Liberal Peace and Post-Conflict Reconstruction", (co-edited with Roger MacGinty) Special issue of Global Society, forthcoming 2007.

• Challenges to Peacebuilding: Managing Spoilers During Conflict Resolution (co-edited with Edward Newman), UNU Press, 2006.

• The Transformation of Peace, Palgrave, 2005.

• Dilemmas of NGO Peacebuilding, (co-edited with Henry C. Carey), Ashgate, 2005.

• Mitigating Conflict: NGOs in Peace Processes, Special Issue of International Peacekeeping and Book (co-edited with Henry C. Carey); Frank Cass 2003.

• Maintaining Order, Making Peace. Palgrave 2002.

• The United Nations and Human Security: Beyond Peacekeeping, (co-edited with Edward Newman); Palgrave 2001.

• The Work of the UN in Cyprus: Promoting Peace and Development, (co-edited with James KerLindsay); Palgrave 2001.

• Mediating in Cyprus: The Cypriot Communities and the United Nations, Frank Cass Series on Peacekeeping, 1998.