The Frontlines of Peace: An Insider’s Guide to Changing the World

Harvard Center for International Development

This podcast was originally recorded on October 7, 2022, for the CID Speaker Series featuring Séverine Autesserre, Author and Professor and Chair of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. Séverine continued the conversation with CID Student Ambassador, Aining Liang, after an appearance at the CID Speaker Series event. Séverine's latest book "The Frontlines of Peace" tells the stories of the ordinary yet extraordinary individuals and communities that have found effective ways to confront violence. Drawing on 20 years of work in peacebuilding, including in-depth research in 12 conflict zones around the world as well as comparisons with social initiatives in North America and Europe, Séverine shows that peace can grow in the most unlikely circumstances, with the help of the most unlikely heroes. The Frontlines of Peace opens our eyes to the well-intentioned but systematically flawed peace industry, shedding light on how typical aid interventions have been getting it wrong, and—more importantly—how a few of them have been getting it right.