The local turn in peacebuilding is at a crossroads. Despite a rich field of empirical research and brave theorizations of peacebuilding flaws, there has been little connection between the two. This book addresses this gap. Through an empirical study of service delivery, local interactions and vertical relationships as local peacebuilding functions, this book contributes to our understanding of the role of local governments within a world that is globally connected but increasingly pays attention to the particular. To achieve this aim, the book has emphasized perceptions and local interpretations of municipal officials, municipal and state employees as well as civil society actors within the local spaces of Tyre, Bourj Hammoud and Saida. In previous chapters, the peacebuilding functions of service delivery, local interactions and vertical relationships have been analysed separately. In this chapter I conclude the book by drawing together the findings and theoretical implications, discussing local peacebuilding by combining the separate pieces of the puzzle. Picking up on the particularities of service delivery, local interactions and vertical relationships as peacebuilding functions in the three municipalities, the chapter illustrates how Tyre, Bourj Hammoud and Saida play different roles and promote different types of peace(s).

Tyre: a municipality to ‘relate to’ in local peacebuilding

By combining our insights from the peacebuilding functions of service delivery, local interactions and vertical relationships, the role of the municipality of Tyre emerges as a local actor to ‘relate to’ in local peacebuilding. In Tyre, service delivery is closely interlinked with vertical relationships with national and international actors and services that require resources or capacities, such as infrastructural developments and waste management operations, are delivered through external actors. The municipal councillors claimed that external actors shared their vision of Tyre as a touristic city, emphasizing the cultural heritage and Roman ruins as well as Tyre's attraction as a coastal town. As such, vertical relationships are perceived as complementary, as working towards the same goal, and infrastructural changes have been implemented, such as a new vegetable market, the restoration of old buildings, cultural heritage promenades, parking lots, etc., making the municipality visible to the local population. This resonates with the argument that the building of infrastructure allows for greater state visibility, an important aspect of state consolidation through service delivery and vertical relationships as peacebuilding functions (Bachmann and Schouten, 2018; Brinkerhoff et al, 2012; Mcloughlin, 2015; Mitchell and Hancock, 2012).