APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page v Guest Editor’s Note Since the early 1990s, peace, conflict, and violence have become major preoccupations for researchers, policy makers, academics, and practitioners, leading to an extensive literature based on years of experience and knowledge. Contrary to the notion popular in some circles that western perspectives are at the forefront in the creation of knowledge in these areas, southern scholars and practitioners have in recent years become more robust and prolific in contributing to debates as they apply to Africa. The articles in this issue of the Africa Peace and Conflict Journal examine different issues in these three overlapping areas. Barry Hart and Muhyadin Saed analyse how customary law principles and practices are being used to resolve clan and sub-clan conflicts, including acts of criminality. Using Somaliland as an example, they underscore the potential value of integrating principles of customary law, conflict transformation, and restorative justice in the search for peace and security. They emphasise the role of multi-sectoral approaches and actors in the promotion, interaction, and exchange of ideas to deepen understanding aimed at resolving protracted conflict. Their examination sheds light on how the international community could learn from organic and flexible traditional forms of resolving conflict and achieving justice. Simeon H. O. Alozieuwa raises the issue of the economic dimension in the ongoing tensions and occasional violence in Jos, Nigeria. He notes that the conflict is commonly viewed as an ethnic dispute, but argues that the ‘indigenous’ population’s fear of political domination by a ‘settler’ group and such a scenario’s ensuing economic implications are the true drivers of the conflict. Alozieuwa warns that failure to mediate the intensifying religious dimension of the conflict could create space for extremists to further fan the flames, potentially generating and leading to the export of religion-based terrorism. Fidelis Allen and Ufo Okeke-Uzodike analyse the politics of oil production in Nigeria and the conflict in the Niger Delta pitting the government and oil companies against justice and environmental groups. Using the nonkilling political analytical tool, they critically examine the relationship between oil, politics, and the killing behaviours of state and non-state actors in the region. Allen and Okeke-Uzodike argue that oil-related killings in the delta are a result of a lack of vision in regard to nonkilling leadership and politics. They contend that only a nonkilling approach to governance and the politics of oil and economic distribution and development offers a chance for lasting peace and social justice in the Niger Delta. Pyana Mwamba Symphorien discusses popular approaches to peacebuilding in warridden societies and their failure to bring about positive peace. Focusing on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he reviews the current state of discourse on the crisis in the east, noting the prevailing economic, mismanagement and bad governance, and politico-cultural schools of thought. Symphorien argues that while such analyses are valid, they fail to address the root causes of conflict and to foster inclusive and community-driven peacebuilding strategies responsive to the physical and psycho-social Africa Peace and Conflict Journal, 3:2 (2010), v–vii. © 2010 University for Peace Africa Programme. All rights reserved. ISSN 1659–3944.