Peaceful Conflict Management Research Articles

UN Peacekeeping Forces and Peace Negotiations in Africa

Abstract The aim of this article is to identify the factors underlying the success of peace negotiations in Africa, with particular emphasis on the role of UN peacekeepers. We analyze African Peace Processes (APP) data over the period 1989–2019 using the binary logistic model. Our results show that the deployment of UN peacekeepers is associated with the success of mediation efforts, both in intra-state and non-state conflicts. On the other hand, the presence of peacekeepers is detrimental to the success of bilateral negotiations. These results thus highlight that the ambiguity surrounding the effectiveness of UN forces in the peaceful management of conflicts depends on the presence or absence of a mediator. Consequently, political decision-makers should combine the deployment of peacekeeping forces with mediation initiatives to achieve peaceful conflict management. On the other hand, this should not be envisaged within the framework of bilateral negotiations, at the risk of producing opposite effects.

Democratizing the dispute: democratization and the history of conflict management

ABSTRACT What explains the complex processes of democratization and conflict management? Are new democracies more likely to use peaceful means or engage in militarized means when presented with opportunities to resolve their territorial disputes? In this paper, we hypothesize that democratizing states still engaged in territorial disputes are more likely to attempt conflict management following the transition to democracy to remove flashpoints that the military and other former autocratic regime elements can use to discredit democracy and prevent consolidation of democracy. Depending on the history of past conflict management attempts, newly democratic leaders either continue or break with the past policies of non-democratic leaders, indicating a degree of interdependence in the conflict management process. Using multinomial logistic regression on claim-year dyad data from the Issues Correlates of War project, we find that previous management attempts and democratization interact to make peaceful conflict management more likely when past leaders have been successful in peaceful conflict management, but not with failed peaceful attempts or militarized attempts. Our results indicate that previous arguments overstate the propensity for democratization to spark armed conflict, attempted conflict management is more often peaceful, and current attempts are highly influenced by the history of attempts pursued by past leaders.

평화적 갈등관리방식의 유용성에 관한 연구 : 신고리 원전 5·6호기 공론화사례를 중심으로

본 연구는 신고리 원전 5·6호기 공론화과정을 중심으로 공공갈등을 해결하는데 공론화방식이 유용한가를 분석한 논문으로서 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 신고리 원전 공론화 활동사례를 통해 나타난 약점요인은 원전 일시 중단에 따른 경제적 손실과 다수결에 의한 공론화의 기술적 한계를 꼽을 수 있으나 운영주체의 중립성과 참여자의 대표성, 토론과정 에서의 공정성과 숙의성이 십분 발현된 강점요인으로 인해 갈등관리방식으로써의 유용함이 입증됐다. 둘째, 공론화방식을 통한 공공갈등해결을 위한 환경적 위협요인으로 ‘공론조사 만능주의’에 대한 우려와 국론분열에 따른 사회통합을 저해할 여지가 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 그러나 공론화시스템의 제도화를 통해 갈등관리시스템을 위한 토대를 마련할 수 있고, 직접·참여민주주의의 확대 가능성이 제고될 기회요인이 큰 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 참여민주주의 국가의 갈등관리방식으로 국민적 참여를 통한 대화와 타협의 숙의적 공론화방식은 유용하고 합리적인 방식이라 판단된다.

La gestión no litigiosa de los conflictos jurídico-privados y el aprendizaje del derecho civil: la simulación

Learning law should promote a culture of peace. This paper analyzes the competences that should be incorporated into the study of civil law subjects in order to encourage a positive and peaceful conflict management. Simulation is a suitable strategy to achieve this objective

Conflict Resolution and Crime Surveillance in Kenya: Local Peace Committees and Nyumba Kumi

In the wake of widespread interethnic “clashes” and al-Shabaab terrorist attacks in Kenya over the last few years, the state has embarked on the devolution of capacities for ensuring security and peace to the local level. The state gave the rights to handle specific local conflicts and crime prevention to local peace committees in an attempt to standardise an aspect of customary law, and to Nyumba Kumi committees in a strategy of anchoring community policing at the household level. These changes were conditioned and framed by ideas of decentralisation and the delegation of responsibilities from the state to the community level. In this paper, the following questions are raised: Are hybrid governance arrangements effective and appropriate? To what extent do peace committees and Nyumba Kumi provide institutional support for peaceful conflict management and crime prevention in Kenya? What guarantees and what constrains their success? The author draws on ethnographic data from the Maasai–Kikuyu borderlands near Lake Naivasha, a former hotspot of interethnic clashes.

Territoriality and freedom of language: the case of Belgium

ABSTRACTLanguage law in Belgium is based on two concepts. The territoriality principle entails that official language use varies from one linguistic region to another. The constitutional freedom of language is an essential complement to territoriality and grants residents the right to use the language of their choice. In the monolingual regions of the country, this fundamental right is, however, limited to the private domain. In the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital, a freedom of language, limited to French and Dutch, exists also in the public domain: residents may choose either language to communicate with the authorities. In this paper, it is explained how the Belgian language regime came about as a result of the interaction between territoriality and freedom of language, already dating back to long before Belgium came into existence. It is argued that the Belgian model has, in actual fact, served as a tool for peaceful conflict management and has greatly contributed to maintaining language diversity. Yet, at the same time, tensions between the two basic concepts exist and are highlighted in this paper.

The effectiveness of treaty design in addressing water disputes

We examine the design features of treaties governing international rivers and empirically test their effectiveness in managing water disputes. We expect peaceful conflict management to be more successful and militarized conflict to be less likely in dyadic river claims when riparians share membership in treaties with mechanisms for river basin organizations, information exchange, monitoring, enforcement, and conflict resolution. To test our expectation we analyze a set of diplomatic disagreements over cross-border rivers coded by the Issue Correlates of War project. We combine this database with treaty content data from the Transboundary Freshwater Dispute Database. Empirical analyses suggest that information exchange and enforcement provisions in river treaties are most effective for preventing militarization of river claims and increase the chances that negotiations over river claims successfully resolve the issues at stake. Enforcement provisions also promote third-party dispute settlement attempts and increase the likelihood of compliance with agreements reached. States that share membership in river basin organizations are more likely to experience militarized disputes and less likely to be amenable to third-party dispute settlement. However, the latter states are more likely to reach agreements in peaceful negotiations over their river claims. These findings demonstrate that institutional design influences riparian states’ ability to address water disputes.

North Korean Futures

The purpose of this paper is to examine the diplomatic paradox of the DPRK following the global financial crisis and the co called “Arab Spring,” each of which had a unique impact on the behavior and policy decisions of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Paradoxically, while their aggressive position has mostly come from a desire to solve perceived security challenges, it has caused deeper economic woes and a further detraction from the lower Songbun categories: the marginalized and “untouchable” caste in North Korea. The results are growing destabilization, more widespread human suffering resembling the famine of the 1990s and an increased dependence on China. Peaceful conflict management with North Korea has been an ongoing discussion largely focused upon the development of nuclear weapons, the expansion of ballistic missile technology and recurring acts of hostility toward neighbors. However, the UN also describes the situation to include “persisting deterioration in human rights situation” and “systemic, widespread and grave violation of civil, political, economic and social and cultural rights.” Central planning failures have further led to widespread environmental problems rendering large amounts of land unproductive (in an already mountainous country) as well as many homeless and in poverty. The current state of affairs is simply unsustainable and creating greater regional conflict. This paper will attempt to consider how these macroscopic economic and political factors run alongside sociocultural ones, as was seen in the “Arab Spring”, which carry unintended consequences in how the DPRK tried to control the “carrots and sticks” as a security measure in the wake of the recent global financial crisis and continued growth of China. While the goal has been to foster more external security (historically very effective and fits inside a preexisting political paradigm) more internal instability exists than arguably ever before. An increased understanding of the values at work can lead toward different strategies for diplomacy and the normalization of relations in the current Northeast Asian conflict.

Teaching Conflict Management Skills in Schools: Prerequisite for Peace and Achievement of Millennium Development Goals in Kenya.

The Kenyan society is experiencing a lot of conflicts, some with devastating effects such as deaths, starvation, disease and destruction. These normally arise out of difference between people. Secondary schools being part of the society have not been left out of this challenge as evidenced by mass media reports on strikes, demonstrations and resulting closures. This being the formative age of the youth who are the majority of the Kenyan population according to 2009 census results, the opportunity of their being in school may be exploited by the society to address conflicts as a major challenge to peace today. The Ministry of Education can impart a curriculum that would perpetuate peaceful conflict management skills in the youth. So far, this has evidently not been done adequately creating gaps for mishaps such as the 2008 post-election violence, whereby if the international community had not timely sent the former United Nations Organization Secretary General, Koffi Annan of Ghana who mediated to resolve the conflict, Kenyans would have ended up in self- destruction. Police have been called in by various authorities, severally, to quell riots and disperse demonstrators across the country. Many people have been, sentenced to death, life in prison, jailed or fined by Kenyan courts due to their poor conflict resolution methods. A peaceful environment would facilitate achievement of ‘millennium development goals’ at the international level, and the vision of industrialization by 2030 in Kenya. It is against the backdrop of the importance of conflict management skills to Kenyans that this paper is addressed. Key words: Conflict management skills, schools, disasters, curriculum, youth, peace, Kenya

Madagascar between peace and conflict—domestic capabilities for peaceful conflict management

Despite severe political instability and many political crises since independence, Madagascar has experienced peace for nearly four decades. Unlike the dominant research on causes of armed conflict, this article focuses on the causes of peace. It introduces a new concept—domestic capabilities for peaceful conflict management—to identify factors related to conflict fault lines, civil–military relations and a culture of constructive conflict management, that facilitate the prevalence of peace. The domestic capabilities for peaceful conflict management perspective draws attention away from preventive diplomacy and external intervention and places the focus on internal capabilities for peace. On this basis, the article also analyses the severe crisis in 2009 and how it was handled.

When Peace Prevails: The Management of Political Crisis in Ecuador, Madagascar, Tunisia, and Venezuela

This article presents a comparative study of four countries that experienced severe political crises during the past two decades—Ecuador, Madagascar, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Despite this, peace prevailed in three of them. Only in Madagascar was there an armed conflict in 2009. Based on a comparison of these cases, the article identifies a set of factors deemed crucial as constituents of a country's domestic capabilities for peaceful conflict management. The article also explains why—in the case of Madagascar in 2009—these capabilities became weakened and the crisis culminated in a military coup. The factors identified as crucial for the preservation of intrastate peace are channels of political participation, the identity and loyalty of the military, a culture of constructive conflict management, and the structure of conflict fault lines in a country. The comparative study revealed that strength in one or more of these factors could substitute for weaknesses in the others. Conflict-prevention research and conflict-prevention efforts therefore need to pay attention to all of these factors, and to the balance between them.

Rebellion without a shot—peaceful conflict management in Ecuador

Most conflict studies focus on the causes of war and violence. In contrast, this article on Ecuador explores the causes of peace in a country with strong conflict fault lines, a political army and several deep political crises during the last two decades. The article suggests that focusing on domestic capabilities for peaceful conflict management provides a new entry point to explaining why peace is sustained. An important aspect lies in the role of the armed forces and of civil society. Theories on civil-military relations provide an understanding of why armed forces intervene. However, there is less analysis of factors that influence political armies' behaviour in terms of the use or non-use of violence. This is the focus of this article. Furthermore, the article asks why actors in civil society opt for non-violent strategies. In summary, the article analyses the capabilities for peaceful conflict management of national actors—particularly of the armed forces and of civil society—through a focus on their behaviour in three recent political crises, and by tracking the influence of historical experiences, cultural context and the structural and institutional framework on their behaviour.

Preventing War and Providing the Peace?

I explore whether international organizations (IOs) promote peaceful conflict management. Using territorial claims data, I find that organizations with interventionist capabilities encourage disputing members to attempt peaceful conflict resolution. Then, to more fully uncover the causal relationship between IOs and conflict management, I investigate the influence of IOs on bilateral dispute settlement separately from third party settlement.The analyses reveal that institutions do not promote bilateral negotiations between members, indicating that the socialization and trust-building capabilities of IOs are limited. However, institutions foster multilateral talks, demonstrating that IOs broker bargaining with third party diplomatic intervention.

International institutions are the key: a new perspective on the democratic peace

The international organisation of the democratic peace matters. Interdemocratic institutions are particularly suited to block escalation pathways between states and to prevent conflicts from resulting in war. This article builds on findings from three fields of research: (a) the liberal analysis of the democratic peace; (b) systemic approaches to international institutions, and (c) new quantitative studies of armed conflicts. Three pivotal contributions of international institutions to peaceful conflict management are identified: international institutions can be used to overcome the security dilemma among states and to tame power competitions. They sustain international cooperation and forestall the recourse of governments to unilateral self-help strategies. Finally, international institutions increase the autonomy of issue areas, which decreases the risk of destabilising spillover effects from other issue areas. The article holds that these three functions are extraordinarily well performed by international institutions composed of democracies and illustrates this allegation by presenting three case studies of interdemocratic management of former rivalries. Therefore, the distinctive features of interdemocratic institutions merit more attention as a supplement to the explanation of the democratic peace.

The EARLY ALLIANCE Prevention Trial: A Dual Design to Test Reduction of Risk for Conduct Problems, Substance Abuse, and School Failure in Childhood

This paper describes a preventive intervention trial called EARLY ALLIANCE which is aimed at reducing risk for three adverse outcomes in childhood and adolescence: conduct problems, substance abuse, and school failure. The structure of the prevention trial is unique because two linked designs are being implemented concurrently. The primary design focuses on children at elevated risk for adverse outcomes, and compares a targeted, multicontextual preventive intervention with family, classroom, peer relational, and academic components to a universal, schoolwide preventive intervention that emphasizes peaceful conflict management and serves as a “usual care” control condition. The secondary design focuses on children at lower risk for adverse outcomes and compares a universally administered classroom program to the control condition. The paper describes the theoretical foundation for EARLY ALLIANCE, the goals of the prevention trial, the rationale for design choices, and the methods employed. Control Clin Trials 2000;21:286–302

Do peaceful conflict management methods pose problems in posttotalitarian Poland?

AbstractMediation as a conflict management procedure is a new phenomenon in Poland. This article examines the fundamental barriers to its introduction there: traditional patterns of thinking about conflict, approaches to the resolution of conflict, and current political and economic conditions. The problems of introducing a procedure based on the concepts of process experts into a society where social expectations and cultural tradition differ from those in the United States are described. The article discusses how the mediation procedure can be adapted in Poland to incorporate conditions specific to the country.