Trauma Resilience as a Keystone to Building the Rule of Law in Conflict-Affected Societies

Trauma—brought about as a result of conflict or from living under an oppressive regime—affects a significant portion of the population in states in transition. Yet, the stress and trauma on individuals, their communities and practitioners, and its potentially negative impacts, are often ignored or misunderstood. Prolonged conflict may result in a vicious cycle where violence becomes the perceived norm and creates a society where crimes and violence are more likely to happen.

After conflict, a high priority for post-conflict countries is to reform the existing justice and security system. However, it is critical that those promoting the rule of law in conflict-affected countries strive to understand the impact of trauma on their work and proceed in a trauma-sensitive manner. The United States Institute of Peace believes that it is only by empowering post-conflict communities and practitioners in the field with the knowledge to diffuse the legacy of trauma will we be able to break the cycle of violence and build a better path to justice and security.

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) held a public event on "Trauma Resilience as a Keystone to Building the Rule of Law in Conflict-Affected Societies." The first panel examined the phenomenon of trauma from the panelists' experiences in post-conflict zones and the ways in which it affects initiatives to promote justice, security, and the rule of law. The panelists shared how their experiences became an impetus for the development of new and innovative approaches to building trauma resilience—the finding of pre-existing points of local resilience and building on those to ensure culturally and contextually appropriate responses to trauma.

During the course of USIP's recent work in Libya, both high-level Libyan officials and the community identified trauma as a major issue affecting and hindering the establishment of rule of law. The second panel focused on Libya as a case study for trauma issues and examined the phenomenon among the general population as well as those who actively participated in the recent revolution. It looked at the direct impact of trauma on current and future efforts to build justice, security, and the rule of law and what is needed to build trauma resilience in the Libyan context.

9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. - Understanding Trauma and its Impacts on Building the Rule of Law in Transitional States & Innovative Approaches to Fostering Trauma Resilience

Elaine Zook Barge, panelist
Director, Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR)
Eastern Mennonite University
Louise Diamond, Ph.D., panelist
Founder and Director, Global Systems Initiatives
Co-Founder, The Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy
COL Walter E. Piatt, panelist
Commandant, U. S. Army Infantry School, U. S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Georgia
Beatrice Pouligny, Ph.D., panelist
Former USIP grantee and co-editor of grant book "After Mass Crimes: Rebuilding States and Communities"
Visiting Faculty at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Elizabeth Stanley, Ph.D., panelist
Associate Professor of Security Studies at Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service
Georgetown University
Founder of the Mind Fitness Training Institute
Colette Rausch, moderator
Director, Rule of Law Center
United States Institute of Peace
John Lancaster, welcome address
Board Member
United States Institute of Peace

11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. - Trauma and its Impacts on Building the Rule of Law in Libya

Wail A Y Nagem, panelist
Deputy Minister of Justice
Government of Libya
Essam Gheriani, panelist
Psychologist and head of Mental Health Cluster (Benghazi)
Najla Elmangoush, panelist
Program Specialist
United States Institute of Peace
Matthew Stanford, Ph.D., panelist
Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biomedical Studies
Baylor University
Vivienne O'Connor, moderator
Senior Rule of Law Program Officer
United States Institute of Peace
Read the bios of all the presenters