Theoretical and Methodological Foundations of the Study of the Processes of Political Institutionalization of Regional Conflicts

Abstract

The article discusses the possibilities and prospects for different approaches of political science to study the processes of political institutionalization of conflicts at the regional level. To date, concepts of complex and bloc conflict have been recognized as the theoretical bases for their analysis. They have great heuristic potential, but are mainly oriented towards analyzing the dynamics of conflict and transforming its structure and manifestations. The institutional management of regional conflicts is not seen as a priority. Therefore, the principles and provisions of the neo-institutional approach need to be adapted to meet research challenges of this kind. In the author’s view, neo-institutionalism should be used primarily to identify the normative and regulatory role of political institutions, the interaction of their formal and informal components, and ensuring non-violent development of political processes. In addition, attention should be drawn to the possible mixed impact of institutionalization on the development of regional conflict: ineffective but stable political institutions often reproduce the negative effects of conflict on society. A promising research approach is the theory of political networks, which can be integrated with the neo-institutional research paradigm. Ongoing studies of regional processes within the concept of “flow spaces”, the analysis of conflicts from an agency-­centred perspective, and the application of network analysis to the study of local conflicts demonstrate a variety of possibilities for rethinking the perceptions of the factors, structure and mechanisms of institutional management of regional conflict. However, this area of research needs to be developed on the basis of existing theoretical developments and the expansion of the empirical base.