In response to the shaky record of the international communitys peacekeeping and conflict management efforts academics and policymakers have begun to reexamine conflict prevention as a key instrument for the advancement of peace in a wartorn world. In Conflict Prevention from Rhetoric to Reality Volume 1 Organizations and Institutions conflict prevention specialists from Asia Africa Europe and the Americas with professional experience in regional organizations the UN and various NGOs and research organizations argue that as a concept as well as a policy conflict prevention is moving beyond rhetorical commitments and symbolic ad hoc activities. Institutional longterm efforts specifically targeted at the prevention of violent conflict have become more than just wishful thinking. Together with local actors many governments regional organizations and the UN are embracing preventive action as a viable path towards sustainable peace. The contributions to this volume trace conflict prevention efforts in various regional contexts and explain how preventive thinking is being successfully mainstreamed into the activities of regional organizations and the UN. They show that while conflicts may not always be prevented even in cases where reliable monitoring triggers effective early warning and preventive action the likelihood of an outbreak of violent conflict can be greatly reduced by determined systematic efforts to address the root causes of potential violence.