Abstract of "Politics of Peace-Building: Critical Evaluation of Interethnic Contact and Peace Education in Georgian-Abkhaz Peace Camp, 1998-2002" by Ohanyan, Anna and Lewis, John E.

Author Abstract

This article presents an evaluation of a second-track diplomacy project sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development and organized between Georgian and Abkhaz youth and teachers. It examines the effects of interethnic contact and peace education components of the program on the participants and evaluates the potential of the entire program for the peace processes between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides. The findings indicate that the program succeeded in cultivating a willingness to engage in joint programs, despite more marginal attitudinal changes among the participants. Equally intriguing and significant was the observed impact of ethnicity. Georgians and Abkhaz experienced the program differently, an outcome that exposed the impact of the larger sociopolitical context of the conflicts on the program outputs. The resulting theoretical and policy implications of the study raise issues of program design and training development, in order to maximize the "transfer effects" of such programs for larger social and political environments of peace processes.