In the heightened religious and ethnic tensions of Post-Suharto Indonesia, the city of Manado in North Sulawesi emerged as an example of peace and harmony. Despite this, it also has active local militias and latent tensions between ethnic groups and social classes, and has faced attacks and threats from terrorist groups and many of the political and social pressures affecting regions in conflict.
This research examines North Sulawesi from the peace-building framework of John Paul Lederach in Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (1997), and the theory of peaceful cities by Ashutosh Varshney in Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life (2002). Extended interviews and ethnographic field research were conducted in the cities of Manado and Tomohon, from June to August 2005.
What makes Manado and North Sulawesi unique are the active peace-building initiatives, the circumstances of local politics, and the historical commitment to tolerance and diversity.