International Mediation Bias and Peacemaking

International Mediation Bias and Peacemaking
Author: Isak Svensson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2014-11-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 113510543X

This book examines the effect of biased and neutral mediators in civil wars. Based on analysis of both global data and case studies of contemporary peace processes, including India and Norway in Sri Lanka, China in Cambodia, US in Israel/Palestine, and Russia in Georgia, the book makes two main contributions. First, it explores the role of biased mediators in contemporary peace processes. The author develops a theory explaining why biased mediators are more effective than their neutral counterparts and the book identifies four different mechanisms through which biased mediators can be effective peace-brokers. By developing a comprehensive set of mechanisms to explain bias mediation, the work deepens understanding of biased mediators in general, and their role in resolving civil conflict in particular. The second contribution offered is a novel way of measuring mediation success. Previous research has concentrated on settlement, behavior, or implementation. While these conceptualisations of mediation success all have merit, they fail to address how the basic incompatible positions are regulated. This book focuses on mediators’ ability to regulate core compatibilities by crafting institutional peace arrangements that generally are considered to enhance the prospect for durable peace. This approach has wider implications for peace and conflict research by bringing together research on durability of peace and studies on international mediation, two fields of research which hitherto have been kept apart. This book will be of much interest to students of international mediation, conflict management, civil wars, security studies and IR in general.

Ending Holy Wars

Ending Holy Wars
Author: Isak Svensson
Publisher: University of Queensland Press(Australia)
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2012
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0702249564

Ending Holy Wars explores how religious dimensions affect the possibilities for conflict resolution in civil war. This is the first book that systematically tries to map out the religious dimensions of internal armed conflicts and explain the conditions under which religious dimensions impede peaceful settlement. It draws upon empirical work on global data, based on the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), and complements this quantitative data with several smaller case studies (Sri Lanka, Philippines and Indonesia). The book shows how religious identities and incompatibilities influence the likelihood of agreements and the mechanisms through which parties and third-party mediators have been able to overcome religious obstacles to negotiated settlements. These findings pave the way for a discussion on how conflict theory can better incorporate religious dimensions, as well as how policy can be designed to manage religious dimensions in armed conflicts.

International Mediation Bias and Peacemaking

International Mediation Bias and Peacemaking
Author: Isak Svensson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2014-11-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135105448

This book examines the effect of biased and neutral mediators in civil wars. Based on analysis of both global data and case studies of contemporary peace processes, including India and Norway in Sri Lanka, China in Cambodia, US in Israel/Palestine, and Russia in Georgia, the book makes two main contributions. First, it explores the role of biased mediators in contemporary peace processes. The author develops a theory explaining why biased mediators are more effective than their neutral counterparts and the book identifies four different mechanisms through which biased mediators can be effective peace-brokers. By developing a comprehensive set of mechanisms to explain bias mediation, the work deepens understanding of biased mediators in general, and their role in resolving civil conflict in particular. The second contribution offered is a novel way of measuring mediation success. Previous research has concentrated on settlement, behavior, or implementation. While these conceptualisations of mediation success all have merit, they fail to address how the basic incompatible positions are regulated. This book focuses on mediators’ ability to regulate core compatibilities by crafting institutional peace arrangements that generally are considered to enhance the prospect for durable peace. This approach has wider implications for peace and conflict research by bringing together research on durability of peace and studies on international mediation, two fields of research which hitherto have been kept apart. This book will be of much interest to students of international mediation, conflict management, civil wars, security studies and IR in general.

Resolving International Conflicts

Resolving International Conflicts
Author: Jacob Bercovitch
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1996
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781555876012

Mediation is one of the most important methods of settling conflicts in the post-Cold War world. This text represents the most recent trends in the process and practice of international mediation.

International Mediation

International Mediation
Author: Jacob Bercovitch
Publisher:
Total Pages: 125
Release: 1991
Genre: Conflict management
ISBN: 9780803985391

Expressing a variety of perspectives and ideas, this volume of essays on mediation features material on mediator behaviour and consultation. Specific case studies describe mediation in the Middle East and Central America, and one essay focuses on the mediation role of the United Nations.

Mediation in International Relations

Mediation in International Relations
Author: J. Bercovitch
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 302
Release: 1994-01-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0230374697

This collection of articles examines mediation in a range of situations including international relations, informal mediation by private individuals and by scholars and practitioners, as well as the superpowers as mediators.

The Peace Brokers

The Peace Brokers
Author: Saadia Touval
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 393
Release: 1982-08-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691101388

From Israel's establishment as a state to the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, this work analyzes the role of third-party mediators of the Arab-Israeli dispute. What interests prompted the mediators to undertake their efforts? What effect did their intervention have on regional and global power struggles? Did the mediators actually make any difference? In a thorough treatment of the struggle for a negotiated peace, Saadia Touval answers these questions and tests his answers against the existing theories of international relations. Including a discussion of both United States and United Nations attempts at mediation, and providing a detailed picture of American-Israeli relations, he maintains that successful mediators do not have to be impartial. Drawing on official documents, memoirs, and other sources, this book discusses the mediation efforts of Count Folke Bernadotte; Ralph Bunche; the United Nations Palestine Conciliation Commission; President Eisenhower's emissary, Robert Anderson; Gunnar Jarring; the 1971 mission of the African heads of state; and Secretaries of State William Rogers and Henry Kissinger. Finally the author analyzes President Jimmy Carter's mediation, which led to the Camp David accords and the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty. Since 1948 various powers have sought to protect their own interests by active assistance to one party or another in the Arab-Israeli struggle. This book shows how those countries and institutions that have attempted to mediate the conflict have also acted out of self-interest.

Elusive Peace

Elusive Peace
Author: Douglas E. Noll
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2011-04-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1616144181

This in-depth analysis goes behind the headlines to understand why crucial negotiations fail. The author argues that diplomats often enter negotiations with flawed assumptions about human behavior, sovereignty, and power. Essentially, the international community is using a model of European diplomacy dating back to the 18th century to solve the complex problems of the 21st century. Through numerous examples, the author shows that the key failure in current diplomatic efforts is the entrenched belief that nations, through their representatives, will act rationally to further their individual political, economic, and strategic interests. However, the contemporary scientific understanding of how people act and see their world does not support this assumption. On the contrary, research from decision-making theory, behavioral economics, social neuropsychology, and current best practices in mediation indicate that emotional and irrational factors often have as much, if not more, to do with the success or failure of a mediated solution. Reviewing a wide range of conflicts and negotiations, Noll demonstrates that the best efforts of negotiators often failed because they did not take into account the deep-seated values and emotions of the disputing parties. In conclusion, Noll draws on his own long experience as a professional mediator to describe the process of building trust and creating a climate of empathy that is the key to successful negotiation and can go a long way toward resolving even seemingly intractable conflicts.

Peter Wallensteen: A Pioneer in Making Peace Researchable

Peter Wallensteen: A Pioneer in Making Peace Researchable
Author: Peter Wallensteen
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 643
Release: 2021-05-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030628485

This book provides a broad overview of what peace research is all about by an author who has been involved in the field for more than half a century. Among other things it gives a unique review of how peace research emerged in Sweden as the author was a key actor in the most crucial events during this formative period. The book also portrays how the discipline has grown from an initial focus on “alternatives to war” to the comprehensive study of the many dimensions of a “lasting and positive peace”. The author's own work covers causes of war, sanctions, conflict resolution, conflict data, mediation, and quality peace. They demonstrate the range of topics that have to be understood for a peace with quality. This is exemplified by some of the author's writings specifically selected for this volume plus a few ones original to it. Some accounts of the author's involvements in actual peace processes in the 1990s are also included. This publication offers a substantial contribution to understanding the evolution of peace research as a field and is an important reading for scholars, policy makers, journalists, students and any aspiring peace researcher as well as for the public at large. • Peter Wallensteen is a global pioneer of peace research due to his involvement in the creation of the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University ¬– a major center in the field. He served as Head of Department from 1972 to 1999. • Peter Wallensteen set up and directed the well-known Uppsala Conflict Data Program, UCDP, the global resource for the study of armed conflicts and peace negotiations, 1978-2015. • Peter Wallensteen was the first holder of the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair in Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, 1985-2012. • He was also the first holder of the position as the Richard G. Starmann Sr. Research Professor of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA, 2006-2018.