Conflict Intervention Research Articles

The Boko Haram Conflict and Food Insecurity: Does Resilience Capacity Matter?

Abstract Drawing from a robust identification strategy and household panel data collected before and after households were exposed to the Boko Haram conflict, this paper addresses the question of whether resilience capacity is an important factor in mitigating household risks of food insecurity due to conflict shocks. Using the non-parametric difference-in-differences framework, the paper identifies that the shocks negatively affect food security, but resilience capacity attenuates the effects. While resilience actively protects households from the adverse stressors, the paper observes that the pillars of resilience were also significantly decimated by the conflict, thereby weakening households’ long-run capacity to withstand future shocks. The results are prescriptively unchanged after adjusting the operating spatial distance of exposure or switching the measure of conflict exposure to conflict intensity represented as battle fatalities. These estimates align well with the various hypotheses of the resilience approach to sustainable development. It is, therefore, recommended that conflict intervention programs incorporate rebuilding resilience, which might help restore households’ ability to overcome future shocks.

Personal Transformation in a Mediation and Conflict Intervention Learning Programme

This paper explores personal transformation and the role of reflective practice in a mediation and conflict intervention learning environment. It draws on research carried out as part of a Master’s degree in mediation and conflict intervention which posed the question: “Is personal transformation identified in a mediation and conflict intervention learning environment?” The research adopted a qualitative approach and the findings were an interpretation of students' reflective data.  This paper also discusses the literature, method and research findings concerning the identification and experience of personal transformation and the role of reflective practice in that transformation. The findings show that personal transformation was identified and found to be a positive experience that changed worldview, altered values and beliefs or changed behaviour. Reflective practice was key to the process. Students found it to be a positive experience with positive benefits on relationships. The conclusion was that the mediators did experience personal transformation in the learning environment and that reflective practice being a key component. &nbsp

Foreign direct investment and third-party diplomatic intervention in intrastate conflict

ABSTRACT Studies have shown the conditions under which peaceful resolutions to armed conflicts occur. Researchers have considered foreign actors’ role in assuring peace through peacekeeping, peace enforcement and other forms of intervention in civil wars. Intervention could be diplomatic, including non-coercive tools such as offers to mediate conflicts and setting up peace conferences by international actors. What factors increase the likelihood of these forms of intervention? In considering diplomatic interventions, this paper examines the role of investment interests in the probability that third parties will intervene diplomatically. Based on the incentives or bias towards peace that foreign investments may create, I argue that states with high amounts of foreign investment are more likely to be targeted for third-party diplomatic intervention. To test this argument, I use data on internal armed conflicts from 1980 to 1999. Countries that host high amounts of foreign direct investments are more likely to experience diplomatic interventions. Given the growing economic interdependence, this is an important finding on globalization’s impact on peace processes.

Functional Coexistence in Intractable Conflict: A Decades‐long View of Conflict Intervention

AbstractThis article develops a theory of functional coexistence, a sustained negative peace which enables conflict parties and intermediaries to resist premature settlement and stay constructively engaged in an enduring state of nonresolution. The case studies of China‐Taiwan relations and the divided Europe and Germany during the Cold War illustrate essential qualities of functional coexistence. These qualities include the dynamic nature of the perceived boundaries of controlled interactions between adversaries who deny their opponents’ legitimacy and, in extreme cases, even their right to exist. Key lessons from the case studies are: (1) the need to build historical awareness of the shifting boundaries of mutually acceptable conflict behavior, (2) the imperative of finding a constructive way of staying engaged in intractable conflict, (3) the role of a multi‐layered, structural view of conflict intervention capable of resisting the inertia of hegemonic stability and submissive inaction, and (4) the importance of making use of short‐term actions to facilitate long‐term social change.

DEFRAGMENTING THE THINKING STRUCTURE OF PROBLEM SOLVING THROUGH COGNITIVE MAPPING BASED ON POLYA THEORY ON PISA PROBLEMS

Errors in problem solving indicate that there are parts of the cognitive structure that are problematic, either because they are disorganized, disconnected or experiencing cognitive holes. thinking This research uses a qualitative approach. The data analysis technique used refers to the Miles and Huberman analysis model, namely data reduction, data presentation and finally drawing conclusions. The results showed that the three subjects studied were only S1 subjects who were able to answer all the questions given correctly without going through the defragmenting process, this was because the problem-solving thinking structure of the questions was classified as good, this success was supported by the level of cognitive understanding of the prerequisite material for the questions. good. While on the subject of S2, even though the conclusions of the answers already look correct, in one of the questions, it appears that there is an error in thinking which is categorized as pseudo, this error occurs because of the tendency to only pursue similarity questions and do not emphasize understanding mathematical concepts. The defragmenting efforts given are in the form of cognitive conflict interventions, scaffolding–restructuring and scaffolding explaning. While on the subject of S3, the low literacy ability in reading the test questions, as well as understanding the concept of the prerequisite material for the questions, causes errors at all stages of problem solving. The defragmenting efforts given are scaffolding-explaning intervention, scaffolding restructuring, cognitive conflict, scaffolding-review, disequilibration. The lack of knowledge about the prerequisite material so that more emphasis is placed on providing scaffolding-explaning.

No evidence that grooming is exchanged for coalitionary support in the short- or long-term via direct or generalized reciprocity in unrelated rhesus macaques

Reciprocity is a prominent explanation for cooperation between non-kin. Studies designed to demonstrate reciprocity often focus on direct reciprocity in the timescale of minutes to hours, whereas alternative mechanisms like generalized reciprocity and the possibility of reciprocation over longer timescales of months and years are less often explored. Using a playback experiment, we tested for evidence of direct and generalized reciprocity across short and longer timescales. We examined the exchange of grooming for coalitionary support between unrelated female rhesus macaques in a population with a complete genetic pedigree. Females that received grooming were not more responsive to calls for coalitionary support from unrelated female group mates compared to control females that received agonism or no interaction — even when the call belonged to a females’ most recent grooming partner. Similarly, females were not more responsive to calls for support from their most frequent unrelated grooming partner of the last two years, nor if they received large amounts of grooming from all other females in their group. We interpret these results as an absence of evidence for direct or generalized reciprocity on any timescale in the exchange of grooming for coalitionary support in rhesus macaques. If grooming is exchanged for support in this population, it is with an intensity below our ability to detect it or over a longer timescale than we examined. We propose by-product explanations may also be at play and highlight the importance of investigating multiple mechanisms when testing apparently cooperative behaviors.Significance statementThe receipt of help can make some animals more likely to provide help in return, whether it be a singular act, or many acts accumulated over months. Similarly, the receipt of help, be it one act of aid, or a group’s worth of help over time, can make some animals more likely to pay help forward to others. Studies on Old World monkeys suggest females may give grooming and in return receive aid in future physical conflicts. Using a playback experiment, we found female rhesus macaques were not more responsive to calls for intervention in a simulated conflict after being groomed by unrelated females, even if the calling combatant was her most recent, or a long-time grooming partner. Our results suggest females in our study population may be receiving benefits other than support in conflicts for the grooming they provide.

Shamed If You Do, Shamed If You Do Not: Group-Based Moral Emotions, Accountability, and Tolerance of Enemy Collateral Casualties.

Civilian casualties contribute to the perpetuation of intergroup conflicts through increased radicalization and hostilities, but little is known on the psychological processes that affect responses to outgroup civilian casualties. The goal of the present research was to explore two factors expected to lead group members to act more cautiously, thereby reducing civilian casualties: perceived accountability and forecast group-based moral emotions. In two studies, Jewish–Israeli civilians (Study 1) and soldiers (Study 2) were asked to forecast their group-based moral emotions in case of Palestinian (i.e., outgroup) civilian casualties, then exposed to accountability manipulations. Participants who expected to feel low levels of shame and were primed with accountability made more cautious decisions than those in the control condition. Participants who expected to feel high levels of shame were unaffected by accountability primes. Theoretical and practical implications regarding forecast moral emotions and accountability as an intervention in intergroup conflicts are discussed.

How local are local agreements? Shaping local agreements as a new form of third-party intervention in protracted conflicts

ABSTRACT Based on two case studies from Syria, this article argues that unilateral external intervention in protracted conflicts is not only about military and financial support to one or other warring party. Unilateral external actors often get involved in the negotiation of local agreements, creating a hybrid form of intervention that combines the roles of warfighting, mediation, and policing. In this context, external actors are able to transform their military, financial and logistical support to states and non-state armed groups into leverage and negotiating power that determines the outcome of local negotiations, thereby gearing the dynamics of the conflict towards their own interests and away from the local agenda. This hybrid external intervention may, in some circumstances, contribute to an unjust and uncertain stabilisation process, while in other circumstances, it can undermine local peace efforts. The clear implication is the need for a greater role and mandate for multilateral actors.

Look who’s (not) talking: The use of mediation in medical negligence claims in Ireland

This paper looks at why mediation is not more widely used in medical negligence claims in Ireland. It is based on research, undertaken in connection with an MA in Mediation and Conflict Intervention at Maynooth University, during which eight solicitors working in the field of medical negligence shared their experience and perspectives on the use of mediation in this area. The research finds that mediation is in use but only as part of the convoluted litigation system and the style used is focused on the legal interests of the parties rather than any emotional needs. The Irish State has introduced some measures to facilitate the use of mediation but there is no coherent strategy and low public awareness. Legislative changes to streamline the litigation system are on the way, but if the parties’ needs and interests are to be served, a more facilitative, people-centred mediation style should be adopted, supported by a coherent, government sponsored, restorative justice strategy.

BURUNDI: A CONFLICT INTERVENTION DESIGN DURING THE 1990S

Among many various conflict analysis methods, Dennis J. D. Sandole’s three pillar model presents a systematic road-map to identify the main issues, causes, and conditions of conflicts, as well as third-party conflict intervention approach. Three pillar model is also well suited to the analysis of complex conflict in Burundi and its intervention process by the third parties during the 1990s. This paper touches on the issues, causes, and conditions of Burundian conflict as Sandole’s first and second pillars suggest, but primarily focuses on the intervention aspect in line with the third pillar of the model. In this context, the conflict intervention framework in Burundi is examined based on the regionally launched Arusha peace process, which resulted in a peace agreement. Following that, given the multi-level nature of the conflict in Burundi, it is discussed how an effective conflict intervention can be designed in order to resolve conflicts and ensure positive peace in the country. Keywords: Burundi, conflict analysis, Sandole’s Three Pillar Model, conflict intervention.

The USSR’s policy in the Third World as a factor in American-French relations, 1976-1979

The article is devoted to the influence of the U.S.-Soviet tensions in the third world on US-French relations. The chronological framework of the study is the end of the 1970s. The choice of the period is due to the fact that the defusing of international tensions in the late 1970s passed into a phase of decline. This was influenced by the conflicts in the third world, where the Soviet-American differences have always been particularly acute. The purpose of the article is to trace how the U.S.-Soviet tensions in the third world affected U.S.-French relations in the late 1970s. This is relevant, as it allows us to understand how the transformation of bilateral relations takes place, why they depend on and how much they change with the appearance of new factors. France and the United States remained allies in the post-war period, however, their relations were contradictory in some historical periods, and within the framework of the article it is necessary to identify the reasons for these discrepancies. The author concludes that France, although it had an independent position on local conflicts in the third world, remained one of the key allies of the United States in the 1970s. However, the events in Afghanistan in December 1979 became the factor in which the French and American positions diverged to the greatest extent. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan put an end to an era when the United States and France had relatively similar positions on detente and the situation in the third world. The United States and France did not approve of the USSR's intervention in local conflicts, but the French government was against the fading of the detente process and did not join the sharp condemnation of the USSR's policy and American sanctions measures.

Conviviality in Disrupted Socionatural Landscapes: Ecological Peacebuilding around Akagera National Park

Convivial conservation presents itself as a vision of radical cohabitation across the Whole Earth, requiring people at the fringes of protected areas or people everywhere to manage day-to-day coexistence and conflicts with non-human species. This article assesses human-wildlife conflict interventions—an electric fence, compensation for wildlife damages, and traditional ecological knowledge—in a disrupted socionatural landscape, Akagera National Park in Rwanda, from the perspective of a framework of ecological peace. Ecological peace is defined through Galtung's (1969) theory of negative peace (freedom from direct violence) and positive peace (freedom from physical, cultural, and structural violence) as applied to relations between human and non-human species. While barriers and compensation schemes may make sense from the perspective of the conservation community's interests in reducing the negative impacts of wildlife on people, or vice versa, and especially towards improving people's perceptions of wildlife and environmental conservation, these human-wildlife conflict interventions may offer only negative ecological peace. Convivial conservation requires human-wildlife conflict interventions to go beyond negative and liberal peace approaches towards positive ecological peace to transform human and non-human relations for radical cohabitation across the Whole Earth.

Gender, Conflict and Peace-Building in Africa: A Comparative Historical Review of Zulu and Igbo Women in Crisis Management

The male gender has often dominated the quest for societal security. Analysis and studies on security management and peace-building tend to advance the role of the male folk more than their female counterparts. This study traced the role of historic Zulu women in societal security management and compared it to the Aba Women's War that is popularly referred to as the Aba women riot. The study used the African developmental feminism theory to anchor its analysis. It maintained that these women rose at critical times to challenge the forces that planted insecurity in their societies. It found that they engaged in both strategic and reactive peace-building. The study also reveals the similarities and differences in Zulu and Igbo women intervention in conflict and security management. Finally, the researchers recommended considering the widespread nature of insecurity in many remote parts of Africa that have consistently led to the death of women and children. There should be a re-awakening of female security regiments in many African societies, and they should be trained to secure their lives and properties through community policing efforts.

Experience of Mediation of the European Union in the Russian-Georgian war of 2008

The article is devoted to defining evaluation criteria and explaining the reasons for the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of European Union mediation in the 2008 Russian-Georgian war. The analysis of the effectiveness of EU intervention in conflicts as a mediator is almost unexplored in Ukraine: Ukrainian scientists consider EU peacekeeping in a broad sense, but does not specifically focus on mediation. This article is an attempt to scientifically assess the effectiveness of the EU as a mediator in the Russian-Georgian war on the basis of developed criteria. The work is written within the general framework of the conflict resolution paradigm, and elements of the constructivist paradigm are also used to explain the meta-conflict present in the conflict system - the difference in narratives of the conflicting parties, which reduced the possibility of successful mediation. The context and process of European mediation were revealed using the case study method. The historical method was used to determine the root causes of the conflict. Using the method of discourse analysis, the features of the conflict system were determined. The paper identifies theoretical approaches to assessing the effectiveness of intervention, describes the features of the conflict system of the Russian-Georgian war, describes the process of European Union intervention in the conflict. The effectiveness of mediation in two stages is analyzed - mediation in the "hot phase" of the conflict and mediation in the Geneva negotiations. The effectiveness at each stage was evaluated according to the criteria formed on the basis of the above theoretical approaches. Contextual (motivation of the parties, levers of influence of the mediator) and procedural (strategy of the mediator) independent variables were analyzed. It was concluded that the degree of effectiveness of the intervention was determined by the interaction of these factors at each stage, but not one of them. The approach used in this study can be applied to assessing the effectiveness of mediation by both the EU and any other actor in resolving post-Soviet conflicts, particularly in the case of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which remained outside the scope of the study.

A theory of competing interventions by external powers in intrastate conflicts: implications for war and armed peace

ABSTRACT This paper presents a game-theoretic model of competing interventions in civil conflict. We analyze the conflict between an incumbent government (as defender) and its rebel group (as attacker) when the two parties receive military support from different external powers. In contrast to the traditional analysis of non-competing or biased intervention by a single third party, we first show how competition in external powers can strategically alter the outcome of the two-party conflict and then identify the conditions under which the defender launches an effective strategy to deter the attacker. We find that (i) when the stakes that the competing external powers have in their respective supported parties are equivalent, the amounts of military support endogenously offered by the external interveners are comparable. The government’s deterrence strategy is ineffective, and the fighting persists despite the warring parties’ valuations for political dominance being asymmetric. (ii) when the external power that supports the government has a higher stake than the competing external power that supports the rebel group, the government’s arming allocation can deter the rebellion. (iii) These results have implications for multi-power interventions so that the equilibrium outcome can be ‘armed peace’ or a prolonged war as observed in civil conflicts.

Conflict capability e mediazione: un approccio preventivo alla radicalizzazione e ai comportamenti antisociali in contesti familiari e microsociali

Understanding conflict dynamics among individuals and within society, and devising appropriate intervention strategies offer a relevant perspective for the prevention of radicalization processes. The article outlines an overview of some concrete instruments of analysis and intervention in microsocial conflicts, with special reference to family. We choose as a starting point the notion of “conflict capability”, the ability of human beings of appropriately handling conflict.The model presented here is based on a systemic understanding of social conflict and a transformative approach to foster human capabilities, and specifically women, of dealing with conflict. Friedrich Glasl’s “escalation model” offers a solid foundation in order to define conflict dynamics which is crucial for devising appropriate, context-specific interventions. For the family and microsocial context, we propose as intervention tools empathic communication and “problem solving without losers” proposed by Thomas Gordon, as well as a “systemic transformative” approach to mediation. The article also reflects on the importance of conflict capability in order to reinforce the practice of democracy, building on the contribution of authors such as Chantal Mouffe and Axel Honneth.

CONFLICT POLICING IN THE PASTORAL COMMUNITIES IN ISIOLO COUNTY

Purpose: Isiolo is among north Eastern part of Kenya that has consistently experienced fatal conflicted clashes since 1990s. The effort to reduce these conflicts has remained unsustainable over years. Therefore, this study sought to assess the effectiveness of policing intervention in reducing armed violent conflict in Isiolo County.
 Materials and Methods: This study was guided by two objectives seeking to assess effectiveness of policing interventions in reducing violent conflict in Isiolo boarder and investigate the factors for success or failure of policing intervention in address violent conflict in Isiolo. The study used content analysis research approach targeting, publication, police and security committee reports and secondary data from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project. Data was analysed using quantitative research approach.
 Findings: The study found that the armed conflict/clashes in the region have not significantly reduced over the last three decade. The clashes are mainly caused by power struggle among the elites, weak social agreements; exclusion and marginalisation; Resource and environmental factors. The study concludes that use of conflict policing has low potential in reduction of crime in Isiolo region. The political interference, Kenya criminal justice, ethnic relations, Ethnic culture, corruption in the police sector and poor conditions and terms of service remain the major problem in the success of conflict policing in the region. 
 Recommendations: The study recommends integration of programmes such as economic empowerment, control of illegal firearm trade in the region, disarming program to reduce weapons from civilians, reconciliation program among communities involved and cracking down gang leaders. Also, good remuneration of police officers manning the area will improve service delivery in the region.

Illiberal peacebuilding in a hybrid regime. Authoritarian strategies for conflict containment in Myanmar

The post-Cold War period has seen the rise of international liberal peacebuilding, as an overarching framework for international interventions in intrastate conflicts. In contrast, the current period is marked by decline of liberal peacebuilding, and a simultaneous rise of domestic illiberal peacebuilding. This has created a gap between the predominant theoretical and policy framework and the actual form of peacebuilding in many conflict-ridden societies. The present article addresses this challenge through a contextual case study of illiberal peacebuilding in Myanmar. The case study shows how a dominant state actor – the military (Tatmadaw) – has used both coercion and co-optation to contain armed resistance against militarized and centralized statebuilding and thereby strengthen the state's territorial control and authority. While the SLORC/SPDC military junta (1988–2011) sought to contain ethnic armed organizations through military offensives, ceasefire agreements and illiberal peacebuilding, the military based USDP-government (2011–2015) institutionalized a hybrid regime as a framework for political transformation of EAOs, and tolerated a degree of dual territorial, administrative and resource control at the local scale. These clientelist measures failed to address the substantive issues behind Myanmar's multiple and protracted conflicts. They were also combined with military offensives against non-ceasefire groups and war by other means in ceasefire areas. Moreover, the case study demonstrates that the Tatmadaw used its tutelary power to obstructs substantive conflict resolution through negotiated state reforms. Myanmar's peace initiatives during the last three decades should thus be understood as illiberal strategies for containing ethnic armed organizations rather than attempts at substantive conflict resolution.

Opportunities and challenges of human–python conflict intervention in local communities adjacent to Nyanga National Park, Zimbabwe

AbstractConservation of wildlife often results in the protection of endangered species, like the Southern African python (Python natalensis). However, wildlife tends to occur both in protected areas and human settlements and the latter results in human–wildlife conflict (HWC). Often when the species involved threaten human life and/or livestock, wildlife authorities react through Problem Animal Control (PAC). The successes and challenges of this practice often vary. We present opportunities and challenges in the practical interventions to minimize human–python conflict by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) in communities adjacent to Nyanga National Park (NNP). We draw on station reports and reactions of human–python conflicts (2013–2020), our involvement with communities when human–python interactions occur, and discussions with stakeholders, extension officers, and wildlife rangers and managers responsible for coordinating PAC programs. We observed that the number of human–python conflict reports have decreased in the past 5 years. Furthermore, ZPWMA's efforts to resolve HWC through PAC reactions in concert with education and awareness, as well as collaborating with stakeholders, contributed to addressing the conflict. We propose four key action areas to strengthen intervention plans and procedures. The action areas involve (i) establishing the population and distribution structure of P. natalensis, (ii) evaluation of successes of capture and release, (iii) establishing the link between python age and involvement in human–python conflicts, and (iv) assessing community perceptions towards human–python conflict reports and interventions by the ZPWMA.

American Catholic Press: From Isolationism to Militant Anti-Communism, 1939-1945

The archives of the Catholic News Agency (CNA) shed valuable light on the transition of American Catholics from antiwar isolationists to militant anticommunists. Until December 1941 most Catholics opposed American intervention in the European military conflict, but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor they patriotically supported American troops and silently tolerated the alliance with the Soviet Union. But from the spring of 1943 American Catholics began to speak out openly against the communist ally. The news feeds from CNA shed light on this transformation: they underscore the role of religion (and especially the role of religious repression) in international relations, which to a significant degree explain the shift in Soviet religious policy during the war. The CNA archives also show how ineffective, or even counterproductive, was Moscow’s religious policy on the diplomatic front, above all with regard to Catholics. This article also offers a new perspective on the so-called “silence” of Pope Pius XII—his refusal to name specific countries as perpetrators of war crimes, his willingness to speak only in abstract terms. CNA in effect served as his surrogate: it expressed what the pope himself could not publicly say without violating his neutrality.