They've won the final battle but stand a chance of losing the peace if they're not careful. Harry Potter and his friends did their part but, like Sam Adams after the American Revolution was over, need to step aside now and let foreign policy experts take over.
Post-conflict reconstruction requires addressing security, governance and participation, urgent social and economic needs, and justice and reconciliation, write Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, Sarah Holewinski, executive director of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict and Tammy Schultz, director of national security and joint warfare at the U.S. Marine Corps War College in Foreign Policy. Conservatives are not going to like making trolls part of the rebuilding process but, whatever, the hard work of post-war stabilization still lies ahead.
Surviving Death Eaters will have to be brought to justice or reintegrated into magical society. Long-standing rifts among magical communities that the war widened must be healed. Most of all, we must ensure that the values that triumphed in the final battle -- tolerance, pluralism, and respect for the dignity of all magical and non-magical creatures alike -- are reflected in the institutions and arrangements that emerge from the conflict. What ultimately matters is not just whether something evil was defeated, but whether something good is built in its place.
It's brilliant stuff from people who are usually pretty serious. Give it a read.
Post-Conflict Potter - 'Voldemort's dead, but the struggle's not over. How Harry Potter and the magical world of J.K. Rowling might begin the long process of reconciliation and reform' by TOM MALINOWSKI, SARAH HOLEWINSKI, TAMMY SCHULTZ in Foreign Policy
