Higher Education in Post-Conflict Societies

Postconflict societies follow their own rules. Higher education plays a critical role in supporting nation-building, state-building, and, foremost, society-building. In many cases, the universities and other tertiary institutions did have a major part in orchestrating conflicts and even wars; they have always been considered as dangerous territory for authoritarian regimes, dictators, and factions in a conflict. Universities also play a major role in the reconstruction process. They form the public mindset, are important for the reestablishment of civil society, and educate the teachers – which any postconflict society is in dear need of. Universities are important for the generation of a new, comprehensive culture, which is often a culture of intervention, if the sovereignty of postconflict societies is at stake.