Peter Jones in “New Directions in Peacebuilding Evaluation” by Tamra D’Estrée

Executive Director of Ottawa Dialogue, Peter Jones, has written an article for Tamra D’Estrée’s new book, “New Directions in Peacebuilding Evaluation,” published by Rowman & Littlefield International. The book is described as a collection of writings from “pathmakers and innovators in peacebuilding evaluation.” Dr. Jones’ article examines the evolution of thinking on the question of how Track Two interventions should be assessed and/or evaluated, including the problems confronting the assessment/evaluation of Track Two dialogues; the techniques available to do it; and the ways in which leading scholars and practitioners have tried to tackle this question. The paper then argues that the concepts of ‘assessing the impact’ of interventions and ‘evaluating’ them against various other criteria, both academic and operational, are not quite the same thing. The article concludes by suggesting that these imperatives could usefully be understood in a more nuanced and differentiated fashion, in order to permit a more tailored and useful approach to the task of understanding what has happened in any given dialogue and what impact it had.

A blurb about the book overall can be found on the site of the book itself: https://www.rowmaninternational.com/book/new_directions_in_peacebuilding_evaluation/3-156-26ed15ac-8e48-4b0e-9153-d65d5636b2bb