When a country emerges from civil war or state tyranny, the first concerns of the transitional government are to maintain the peace and (re)build institutions of responsible government, including the rule of law. Reconciliation goals must be understood within this context as they exist among many peacebuilding concerns. Most types of reconciliation are not priorities in the immediate transition from war to peace.

We might envision the priorities of a transitional government like this: This chapter locates political and national reconciliation amongst the many concerns of transitional states. I argue that while almost all forms of reconciliation are important for long-term peace, justice and democratic governance, only two forms are relevant in the early stages of peacebuilding.

POLITICAL RECONCILIATION AS ENVISIONING A SHARED POLITICAL PROCESS

Long before the remarkable peaceful transition from apartheid rule to democratic governance in South Africa, the seeds of reconciliation had been planted. The African National Congress (ANC), the main organization opposed to apartheid, had always articulated an inclusive vision of South Africa where people of all ethnicities would share a political process as equals. When leaders finally negotiated a peace settlement, most South Africans could accept it because the vision had long been in place (A. du Toit, personal communication, October 18, 2004).

National political reconciliation begins with this vision. It begins before the peace agreement when leaders or representatives from conflicting groups meet and imagine a future together with a shared political process. Total war victories are rare. Most successful peace processes occur when conflicting factions negotiate a settlement and agree that they have more to gain from a shared political process than from fighting.

This vision of a shared political future, which I call stage-one political reconciliation, must be accepted both by leaders and, in most cases, the population. Knox and Quirk (2000) observe that in Israel/Palestine the divisions are popularly supported and leaders will have difficulty negotiating a sustainable settlement without democratic support. In such divided societies conciliatory eff orts must help leaders and citizens imagine an interdependent future. Such a shift did occur in Northern Ireland which once had strong popular support for segregation.