Parties In Conflict Research Articles

Making Room for the Solution: A Critical and Applied Phenomenology of Conflict Space

ABSTRACT This essay discusses the normative significance of the spatial dimension of conflict events. Drawing on qualitative interviews conducted with political actors – politicians, officials, and activists – and on Heidegger’s account of spatiality in Being and Time, I will argue that the experience of conflict space is co-constituted by the respective conflict participants, as well as the location where the conflict unfolds. Location and conflict parties’ (self-)understandings ‘open up’ a space that enables and constrains ways of seeing and acting. Yet, a purely transcendental phenomenology will remain oblivious to the quasi-transcendental, societal structures of power that shape a person’s conflict experience. To illuminate these facets of the phenomenon, phenomenology has to join forces with critical theory. Introducing Garland-Thomson’s feminist distinction of fit/misfit, I will illustrate how power shapes conflict space in manifold ways. The essay thereby fills a gap in the philosophical literature that rarely analyses political conflict as a phenomenon sui generis.

Caring is sharing: Why independent commissions in post-conflict societies have power-sharing arrangements

The inclusion of conflict parties in independent commissions through power-sharing has been found to reduce the reoccurrence of conflict. Yet, the theoretical and empirical literature explaining why independent commissions include power-sharing is very limited. Previous publications have focused on in-depth case studies that explain how power-sharing prevents conflict recurrence in specific post-conflict societies but do not provide a general argument or widescale testing beyond individual case studies. This article provides a new systematic, general theoretical argument and novel empirical testing that explains why there is power-sharing on some commissions but not others. We argue that conflict parties adopt power-sharing provisions in independent commissions because doing so allows them to overcome significant credible commitments problems that are inherent to the ending of intrastate conflict. Using a new and comprehensive dataset, Independent Commissions in Post-Conflict Societies, which includes information on 580 commissions (1990–2016), this article applies a combination of decision trees and regression analysis to test our hypotheses. The findings indicate that power-sharing is adopted where credible commitment problems are acute and show that commissions working on political or security issues and those with monitoring or verification roles, or that work on the implementation of peace agreements, are more likely to include power-sharing arrangements.

Multiparty mediation in a changing world: the emergence and impact of parallel processes to UN peacemaking in Syria and Libya

PurposeThis paper aims to study recent approaches to peacemaking, particularly by Turkey and Russia, in a changing world and their implications for UN-led peace processes. The authors analyze the factors that allow parallel processes to UN mediation to emerge and discuss their influence.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents two in-depth case studies of mediation in Syria and Libya, where the UN, as well as Russia and Turkey, were actively involved in peacemaking.FindingsThe authors find that parallel processes to UN mediation emerge if the UN process does not show progress toward a negotiated settlement and other third parties have leverage over the conflict parties. However, whether these parallel processes pose a fundamental challenge to the UN-led process depends on how sustained the third parties’ leverage over the conflict parties is. If it lasts, it puts the UN in a difficult position to either participate in the parallel process and contain it but thereby also legitimizing it, or to abstain from participating but thereby risking to lose control over the mediation process.Research limitations/implicationsAnalyzing different approaches to mediation helps to better understand current dynamics of multiparty mediation, including an increased questioning of the effectiveness of UN mediation, and provides insights on how the UN may adapt to keep its relevance in a changing world.Originality/valueThe paper is based on original first-hand data gathered between 2018 and 2022 through more than 50 interviews with UN officials, negotiation team members, political and civil society actors from Syria and Libya, (former) state officials and experts from Russia and Turkey, as well as external observers.

Peran Operasi Militer Dalam Mendukung Upaya Diplomasi dalam Pembebasan Irian Barat

The reconquest of West Irian by the Dutch colonialists was a very tiring and hard struggle. The Dutch had a hidden intention to separate West Irian from Indonesian territory. The Dutch government violated the agreements of the Round Table Conference, the Teak Circle Agreement, and International Law. The Indonesian side carried out military operations on Gurita, Rajawali, Djatayu, and finally the Djayawidjaya military operation to retake West Irian. The purpose of this research is to provide an overview and analysis regarding the attitudes and strategies of the two parties in the West Irian conflict from the aspects of political/diplomatic, military and economic strategy. The writing method uses descriptive analysis method, by analyzing the facts that occurred in the struggle to seize West Irian from Dutch rule, supported by literature studies, literature, national and international scientific journals, theoretical and juridical. The results of the research show that there is a relationship and cooperation between activities in the field of politics/diplomacy and the military sector, because in essence the two fields have the same goal and help each other. To get maximum results, politics/diplomacy needs to be supported by military force, and vice versa military power needs political/diplomatic support to ask for huge costs in winning war goals. The war strategy in the future does not only rely on politics/diplomacy and the role of the military alone, but must involve all other components of national defense and be implemented in its entirety.Keywords: Connection; Cooperation; Politics/Diplomacy; Military.

Don’t we have a right to get angry? Integrating emotions into international mediation studies

PurposeThis paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a negotiated settlement or continue fighting, and to present an alternative framework that integrates emotions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on psychology research on emotions and conflict to develop an emotionally informed framework for analyzing conflict parties’ decision-making regarding a settlement. It demonstrates the framework’s validity and value through a case study of the 2000 Camp David mediation to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.FindingsA rationalist approach to mediation does not have adequate explanatory and predictive power theoretically. In practice, it can reduce the prospect of success.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper highlights the necessity for mediation researchers to study the effects of emotion, draw on psychology studies on conflict and explore the emotional implications of different mediation strategies and tactics.Practical implicationsThe framework highlights the challenge of designing and conducting mediation in a way that cultivates emotions favorable to a settlement and lessens emotions unfavorable to a settlement.Originality/valueThis is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to critique the rationalist framework of international mediation studies and develop an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

Arming Hospital Ships of the Future: Hybrid Wars Require a Major Change.

It is time to provide heavier defense systems to U.S. Navy hospital ships. They serve vital functions in both the military and emergency management spaces. They provide medical support for combat operations and can also convey the empathy and generosity of the American people when used in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response. Hospital ships are often key to success in scenarios that require the international deployment of resources and medical expertise. Hospital ships serve a dual purpose and hence are subject to regulations that do not address all wartime mission requirements and necessary defensive capabilities. The current U.S. Navy's interpretation of the Geneva Conventions regarding the visibility, lack of defensive capabilities, and inability to use encrypted communications needlessly endangers medical platforms and personnel in the modern environment. The authors (including senior author F.M.B.-a recognized (International Health Law expert) reviewed relevant literature and have evaluated the policies of belligerent parties in past and current conflicts. These increasingly appear to target civilian infrastructure including medical facilities and may increase the risk to hospital ships. This demonstrable current hybrid warfare appears to include purposeful attacks on health care facilities and as such hospital ships should have additional defensive measures. Hybrid warfare and its focus on civilian infrastructure and health care targets are highly visible in the acts of both state and non-state actors and may encourage others to purposefully target health care facilities and personnel. Evidence of this is seen in the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, where since the invasion a year ago 1,218 Ukrainian health facilities have been damaged, including 540 damaged hospitals, 173 of which were totally destroyed and turned into "piles of stones." In today's conflicted global environment, the clear identification of hospital ships leaving them relatively undefended and denying encrypted communication is the folly of a bygone era. Hospital ships may be targeted because they are brightly lit soft targets that can deliver a large payoff by their destruction. It is time to adapt to the global reality and move on from the tradition of painting hospital ships white, adorning them with red crosses, keeping them unarmed, maintaining open communications, and illuminating them at night. The increasing threats from hybrid warfare and unprincipled adversaries to medical platforms and providers of health care demonstrate that hospital ships must be capable of self-defense. The U.S. Navy is designing new platforms for medical missions and the debate, no matter how uncomfortable, must now occur among major decision-makers to make them more tactical and defensible.

The Sheffield street tree dispute: a case of “business as usual” urban management?

Press coverage of the Sheffield street tree dispute showed images of protestors and yellow ribbons on trees threatened with felling as part of a highly charged and public argument between the council and some of its citizens. However, a closer analysis of the highways management programme shows that it was not simply a case of two parties in conflict. This paper pulls on a wide range of secondary data sources to explore Sheffield’s street tree dispute by examining the urban management approach taken by the local authority. Using the place-keeping concept as an analytical framework, the paper will demonstrate how the Sheffield case reflects “business as usual” maintenance practices undertaken by local authorities when contracting out management work. The analysis also provides evidence showing how the Sheffield case demonstrates poor contract design, governance processes, evaluation and communication practices that had ramifications for the city that went beyond its street trees.

CONSENSUAL DEMOCRACY IN NORTH MACEDONIA, ACCORDING TO ARBËN XHAFERI

<p><span>In this study, focused on the political thought of Arbën Xhaferi, this politician, diplomat and philosopher, known among Albanians and beyond, his views on solving inter-ethnic problems within multi-ethnic states, which can lead to possible conflicts, are discussed. The unresolved issue of not only the rights of minorities in many countries can become the cause of inter-ethnic conflicts, which has been proven in history, from the oldest to the most recent one. Considering all these possible social crises, which according to Xhaferi can be resolved through the good will of the two parties in conflict, as an intellectual, politician and as a party leader, he took this issue seriously, even in the form of his practical action and engagement in solving problems of this nature, by being one of the participants in the Ohrid Framework Agreement, whose primary goal was to end the 2001 conflict in Macedonia, which erupted just because of the non-applicability of the rights of a large portion of Macedonian citizens at the time, such as the Albanians. In the study, in addition to Xhaferi's views on the issue of consensual decision-making, we also talk about the views of other personalities related to the phenomenon of consensual resolution of conflicts, such as Max Weber, Kavanagh, Maurice, Lijphart and others.</span></p><p><span><strong>Keywords:</strong> politics, conflict, consensus, majoritarianism, over voting, equality, binational.</span></p>

Forum: Making Peace with Un-Certainty: Reflections on the Role of Digital Technology in Peace Processes beyond the Data Hype

Abstract Recent years have seen the acceleration of data- and evidence-based approaches in support of peace processes, creating a renewed confidence that conflicts can be predicted, known, and resolved, based on objective information about the world. However, new technologies employed by conflict parties, stakeholders, and those who aim to make or build peace have also made peace processes less ascertainable, intelligible, and predictable. Technology can thus create both more certainty and uncertainty in (and about) peace processes. This forum article presents a first collaborative attempt to explore how the use of technology by conflict parties and peacebuilding actors influences these dynamics. We examine various fields of engagement, ranging from conflict prevention to peace mediation, peacekeeping, and longer-term peacebuilding. Our discussion engages with a variety of related activities, including predictive analysis and foresight, conflict analysis, cease-fire monitoring, early warning and early action, and problem-solving and trust-building dialogues. We suggest approaching un-certainty as a spectrum between uncertainty and certainty that can be studied across epistemic, ontological, and normative dimensions, thus inviting further academic research and policy reflection. The article is coauthored by scholars and current or former practitioners and underlines the necessity, benefits, and feasibility of research–practice exchanges on this topic.

Ethos of Conflict in the International Arena: Power Predicts Expression of Threat for Security and Hope for Peace in Speeches of Leaders of Nations in Conflict

Nations mired in prolonged conflict develop and disseminate societal beliefs to address society's needs. These beliefs are also used to garner support in the international arena. Two key beliefs commonly voiced to the international community by leaders of rival parties concern the threats posed to their nation and their nation's aspiration for peace. Not accounting for power differences, so common in international conflicts, current literature asserts that both parties in conflict express these beliefs. However, we suggest that the extent these beliefs are voiced depends on the nations' relative power. Namely, we hypothesize that because of inferior capabilities, low‐power nations are likely to mention the threats posed to their security and their eagerness for peace more frequently than high‐power nations. To test our hypothesis, we analyzed the entire corpus of speeches made by Israeli and Palestinian representatives speaking at the United Nations General Debate between 1998 and 2020. We found that although representatives from both parties spoke about the threats posed to their security and their eagerness for peace, both beliefs were voiced more frequently by speakers from the low‐power party (in this case, Palestinians) than the high‐power party (Israelis). Implications for psychological research of nations in conflict are discussed.

Between General Strike and Dissensus: W. E. B. Du Bois’sBlack Reconstruction

For W. E. B. Du Bois, the tragedy of Reconstruction was that its achievements were overthrown and erased from collective memory. Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction corrects this, claiming enslaved people who fled plantations self-emancipated, thus enacting a “general strike against the slave system.” Yet Du Bois contravenes his general strike thesis when he quotes without rebuttal several Union officials who spoke of the formerly enslaved in degrading, nonagentic terms. I turn to Jacques Rancière’s politics of dissensus to understand why Du Bois quoted such racist views without comment. In Rancière, political actors “stage a scene” of equality that is shared, even among parties in conflict. Recording conflicting perceptions of the strike, highlighting divisions that persist despite momentary advances of equality, Du Bois’s reading of the general strike is dissensual in Rancière’s sense, I argue. But Du Bois also offers a valuable corrective to Rancière, whose account of the first plebeian secession erases a different general strike from memory. Rancière reads the Aventine as an event of confrontation unconnected to the collective action that Du Bois summoned from the archive and named “general strike.”

International Mediation, Identity Construction, and Normative Change

Abstract In this article, I argue the following: mediation can operate as an arena in which identities are reconstructed while the very occurrence of mediation can trigger and fuel processes of identity reconstruction. More precisely, the norms promoted through mediation can serve to reconstruct the identities of the conflict parties. I will make this claim by examining two contemporary instances of mediation in Syria and Yemen, cases which diverge in the third-party peacemaking approach taken. I investigate these cases by gathering and thematically analyzing an original qualitative dataset comprising 74 semi-structured interviews, 50 press conferences, and 110 official documents. My analysis challenges existing literature concerning the intertwinement of norms, identity, and mediation; contributes to our understanding of how identities in Syria and Yemen were transformed following the revolutions of 2011; and interrogates traditional understandings of the purpose and effects of mediation.

INFORMATIVE COMPONENT OF MEDIATOR COMPETENCE OF FUTURE SOCIAL WORKERS

Abstract. A high level of conflictogenic potential in the context of world globalization is one of the characteristic features of modern society, which is very threatening fact. The article analyzes mediator competencethat combines professional knowledge, skills, qualification of the mediator, experience in mediation etc., which would allow making certain objective judgments and correct decisions for conflict resolution and satisfy expectations of the conflict parties. It was found that when training specialists, especially social workers, for the role of a mediator, one should take into account the goal, tasks, principles of mediation. It is necessary to form and advance their knowledge, skills and abilities related to mediation for them tobe able to provide social and legal protection of peoplebasing on an interdisciplinary approach in the field of conflictology, law, psychology, jurisprudence and personal characteristics and experience.

The Role of Third Parties in Cyber Conflicts: The sima Simulator

New media creates opportunities to directly measure how adolescents respond to aggressive situations. In this study, we report on sima, a simulator of digital chats, created to mimic online aggressive interactions within a conflict situation. Adolescents were invited to be part of a digital chat where all interactions were pre-programmed, except for the participants’ interventions, to discuss controversial topics (e.g., animal maltreatment). Two chat members engaged in a conflict programmed to escalate quickly through aggressive insults. Sixth and seventh-grade students (mostly aged 12 to 14; n = 287) from one public school (low ses) and one private school (high ses) participated in the study. Responses to open questions after finishing the chat suggest that the great majority considered that they were taking part in a real online interaction. Aggressive offenses towards other members of the chat were very common. sima opens many options for further research about bystander behavior in aggressive online interactions.

Rise or Recede? How Climate Disasters Affect Armed Conflict Intensity

Abstract Disasters play a key role in debates about climate change, environmental stress, and security. A qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) investigates how major climate-related disasters shape the dynamics of ongoing armed conflicts. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for twenty-one cases across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After climate-related disasters, 29 percent of these armed conflicts escalated, 33 percent de-escalated, and 38 percent did not change. Furthermore, only countries highly vulnerable to disasters experienced changes in conflict dynamics. Armed conflicts tend to escalate when the disaster induces shifts in relative power, whereby one conflict party (usually the rebels) subsequently scales up its military efforts. But if at least one conflict party is weakened by a disaster and the other lacks the capability to exploit this change, armed conflict intensity declines. Findings provide empirical support for a proposed power differential mechanism connecting climate-related disasters to armed conflict dynamics via short-term shifts in power relations between the conflict parties. Climate change can also act as a threat reducer by temporarily causing lower conflict intensity.

LEGITIMIZACIJA VLASTITOG STATUSA MOĆI U SAMOPREDSTAVLjANjU MEĐUNARODNE KRIZNE GRUPE

The paper presents types of legitimization in the self-presentation of International Crisis Group (ICG), a non-governmental organization which is globally referred to as the leading source of information, analysis and high-level advocacy in the field of conflict. Given the privileged access to the world policy makers and the powerful social status of the ICG founders and the Board of Trustees’ members, as well as the ICG’s presence on the ground in the countries where conflicts occur, the paper posits that the legitimacy of the ICG’s persuasive power is grounded on authority and information as social resources. The quantitative and qualitative analy- sis of two self-promotional ICG brochures points to the equal contribution of both social resources in providing legitimacy for the organisation’s existence and work. Namely, it is found that legitimization by reference to personal authority, as well as commendation legitimization, are enacted not only through personal authority vested in ICG’s members on the grounds of their individual, respective (former) roles in governments, in the media, business, and in financial institutions, but through the personal authority vested in the individuals (re)commending the work and stature of ICG (high officials of the parties in conflict, as well as world’s top governments officials), whose affiliations are always stated in the analyzed corpus. Their authority gets implicitly transposed to the organization itself. The role of mythopoesis, as the type of legitimization enacted through storytelling, is to portray the organization as the hero and the voice of the world’s vulnerable. The combination of rationalization and moral evaluation provide legitimacy for the “field-centred research” and “allegiance to the facts on the ground” as components of ICG’s “methodology” in obtaining and producing information thus implicitly legitimizing the truth about a conflict that the ICG analysts may establish.

Configuration and Strategic Scenarios in the Northwest Syria

Three years have passed since the massive military operation of Syrian Army. Nowadays territories of Syrian provinces Idlib and Aleppo which are partly under control of Syrian Army, partly under groups of islamists, and with a little presence of Kurdish forces, still are the most problematic point on the Syrian map, where interests of all main actors of Syrian conflict are crossed, where that conflict has become multi-layered, and where contradictions manifest themselves in artillery strikes and firefights despite the freezing of the hot phase of the conflict. In this article we will try to open up desires of parties of conflict and to show up scenarios, based on formed prerequisites, of the future of Northwest Syria for coming years.

Engaging Conflict History and Memory Across the Taiwan Strait: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Conflict Timelines from Interactive Conflict Resolution (ICR) Dialogues

An analysis of twenty pairs of Taiwanese and mainland Chinese timelines of cross‐Strait relations demonstrates a highly dynamic way in which the two societies' conflict memories have evolved over two decades. These timelines were developed in the context of twenty weeklong Interactive Conflict Resolution (ICR) dialogues that the author facilitated. A cohort of civil society delegates from both sides of the Strait, each with five persons, participated in each of the dialogues and produced the timelines. A longitudinal content analysis of the timelines reveals that the participants' experiences of cross‐Strait relations have continuously altered their mental frames of the conflict. It also reveals distinct patterns of their recollections. These findings challenge the prevailing practices of conflict mapping and analysis that uncritically presume a static nature of conflict parties' goals. Broader implications of the study include the usefulness of action research and applied practice for methodological innovations and theory building.

Teorijska polazišta u razmatranju koncepta asimetričnog ratovanja

The issue of the concept of asymmetric warfare is extremely important for modern military theoretical thought, since modern wars are based on the asymmetric strategic relationship of the conflicting parties. The previous concepts of irregular warfare, which dealt with the problem of asymmetry, such as guerilla, insurgency or partisan warfare, do not provide a complete insight into the complex nature of the strategic relationship of the asymmetric opponents. They arise from a one-sided view of the weaker actor in a conflict. The lack of a one-sided approach in the aforementioned concepts can be overcome through the concept of asymmetric warfare, which allows a consideration of both parties in a conflict; this is exactly the analytical value of this concept compared to the previous ones. However, due to its theoretical incoherence, the concept of asymmetric warfare is often criticized for having a small value in use. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to present the essential characteristics of this concept, where Clausewitz's views on war can certainly be used, as well as the mentioned concepts of irregular warfare, and also different views on asymmetric warfare, developed after the Cold War.

MEDIATION AS A TOOL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Amaç: Bu çalışmada örgütsel çatışmanın ortadan kaldırılması gereken olumsuz bir durum olmaktan çok, yönetilebilir bir süreç olarak nitelendirilmesine imkân tanıyan modern örgütsel çatışma yönetimi yaklaşımları dikkate alınarak, çatışma yönetim tarzlarının arasına arabuluculuk yönteminin dâhil edilmesinin ne ölçüde mümkün olacağının ortaya konması amaçlanmaktadır. Yöntem: Bu çalışmada çatışma kavramına yönelik kuramsal temellere çerçevesinde, modern çatışma yaklaşımında yapılandırılmış bir örgütsel çatışma envanteri esas alınarak arabuluculuğun bir çatışma yönetim aracı olarak uygulanıp uygulanamayacağı sorusuna cevap aranırken, arabuluculuk yönteminin uyuşmazlık çözümünden ziyade bir çatışma yönetim aracı olarak kullanılabilmesi için klasik hedeflerinden ayrılması gerektiğine vurgu yapılacak, devamında arabuluculuğun çatışma yönetim aracı olarak elverişli olabileceği alanlar ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır. Bulgular: Arabuluculuğun problem çözücü yaklaşım ekseninde şekillenen klasik hedefleri, bu yöntemin bir çatışma yönetim aracı olarak kullanılmak istenilmesi halinde yeterli olmayacaktır. Yani, bir çatışma yönetim aracı olarak arabuluculuk, ancak klasik hedeflerinden ayrıldığında verimli olabilecektir. Fakat bu durum problem çözücü arabuluculuk yaklaşımda benimsenen tekniklerin ve bu yaklaşımın hedeflerinin çatışma yönetim sürecinde tamamen göz ardı edilmesi gerekeceği anlamına gelmeyecektir. Bu noktada, çatışma yönetim aracı olarak etkinlik kazanan bir arabuluculuk sürecinin, doğrudan çatışmanın yönetilmesini ve onun fonksiyonel bir yapıya kavuşturulmasını hedeflemek yerine, diğer çatışma yönetim stillerinden hangisinin benimseneceği noktasında çatışma taraflarının isabetli bir tercihte bulunmalarını kolaylaştırma hedeflenebilir. Özgünlük: Türkiye’de Arabuluculuğu örgütsel çatışmaların yönetimine yönelik bir araç bakış açısıyla inceleyen bir araştırmaya rastlanılmamıştır.