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About us: Mission Statement
The Conflict Analysis Research Centre (CARC) at the University of Kent is a multi-disciplinary and multi-site Faculty Research Centre. It is based in the School of Politics and International Relations but can draw on the expertise of other Schools such as History, Anthropology, Psychology, the School of Social Policy and Social Science Research, Law, Health Sciences, and the Kent Business School.
The aims of the Conflict Analysis Research Centre are:
- to be a centre of excellence in the study of conflict, developing original theory and analysis of conflicts
- to support creative approaches to conflict management
- to teach the practical skills of negotiation and mediation to enhance professional capabilities
- to participate in the development of European and international networks in the field of conflict analysis
- to offer advanced training and research opportunities, and to train new entrants to the field, through taught undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and PhD research
- to offer knowledge transfer partnerships with businesses and multilateral organisations.
The Conflict Analysis Research Centre is based on the main UK campus in Canterbury (Rutherford College Room N3.E3).
The Conflict Analysis Research Centre carries on a long-standing Kent tradition of first hand academic involvement in current world issues by assisting parties in conflict through consultancy and analysis to identify creative and transformative options to reach workable agreements.
The Conflict Analysis Research Centre takes over from the Center for Conflict and Peace and its forerunner the Centre for the Analysis of Conflict , which was started in 1966 as an inter-university research project working on conflict issues in Malaysia & Singapore, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Lebanon and South Africa, under the guidance of pioneering academics such as John Burton, John Groom, Chris Mitchell, and Keith Webb. Under Andy Williams, the centre used its Track II negotiation, mediation and diplomatic skills in working with parties in Moldova, Europe's poorest country, to resolve trade and transit differences with Moldova's break-away Transdniestr Region, which remains under the supervision of the 56-nation Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Our aim is to expand the range of conflict areas we deal with to include 21st century issues such as multiculturalism and immigration, conflicts leading to terrorism, conflict-related aspects of public health and pandemics, conflicts over energy and environmental issues, and disputes over globalization and trade. We will work with the public and private sectors, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in gaining an understanding and developing an expertise in managing such conflicts and in rebuilding communities in their post-conflict transition periods.
The Conflict Analysis Research Centre incorporates the Energy Analysis Group, a research centre on energy policy which held a forum in 2007 on "National Agendas of Energy Policy" sponsored by the Finnish Institute.