The Power of Reconciliation

Published by: Bloomsbury Continuum,London, 2022, 304pp. ISBN: 9781399402972.

The book under review provides a fascinating insight into the realms of peace, conflict, and reconciliation on the global stage.

The book is divided into three parts in total. Part I deals with definitions and difficulties when engaged in mediation and what reconciliation is and why it rarely takes place. Interestingly, the book points out that one of the major mysteries of humanity is that there is a major absence of collaboration between peoples and nations engaged in conflict.

Part II provides a thorough explanation of how reconciliation works and evaluates the successes and failures in conflict resolution. In this part, Welby carries out an honest appraisal of the effectiveness of the Coventry model of reconciliation when applied to the dispute between the Nigerian authorities and the people of Ogoniland who felt that Shell was extracting oil from their lands without proper recompense and being left out from the share of the financial spoils.

Part III is quite distinct in that it focuses on the habits of reconciliation and explores the effectiveness of a course called ‘The Difference Course’ which was developed by the reconciliation team at Lambeth Palace. Furthermore, Welby acknowledges that despite the course being developed for churches and Christian groups it was rolled out to multifaith and secular groups with the aim of providing a framework to facilitate reconciliation and achieve conflict resolution.