KSR Diplomacy Diary: 17. Conflict Management скачать в хорошем качестве

KSR Diplomacy Diary: 17. Conflict Management

17. Conflict Management This episode covers the complex challenges of conflict management; for a change I have four points to make. 1. The nature of conflict has changed. Since the Vietnam war which formally ended in 1975, there has been no all-out interstate conflict, though the two wars in Iraq and the Afghan War have lasted many years. Now, domestic and external conflicts blend together to produce hybrid warfare, devastating and carrying huge human cost, but restricted to particular areas. An example is the Syrian conflict that has produced millions of refugees and tens of thousands of casualties, but intervention by outside powers remains limited. Nonstate actors such as ISIS and the Taliban play a major role. 2. Disputes are over territory, plus resources such as oil and gas, and water. New issues emerge, like refusal by leaders to handover power after losing elections. On the other hand, we have examples like Brazil’s Foreign Minister Rio Branco who in 1902-12 negotiated and settled land frontiers with all the 13 countries that adjoin Brazil. 3. Conflict resolution comes in many shapes and flavours. Among those that help with conflict settlement are states like Norway, Switzerland and Austria, as well as the Vatican, plus many international NGOs and well-wishers like religious personalities. Mediation is one settlement method, where an outside entity might play roles varying, as a communicator or facilitator, or as formulator for a compromise, or even as a manipulator that pushes for a settlement (Zartman). The International Court of Justice at the Hague acts as an arbitrator, but under tight legal provisions, or when approached by both parties to a dispute. 4. A new form of conflict management has emerged, called ‘preventive diplomacy’, efforts to avoid conflict. A soft example is the Asian Regional Forum where 25 or 27 foreign ministers meet every year to discuss political issues facing Southeast Asia. At the United Nations Charter conflict resolution is covered under Chapter VI and VII, with the Security Council as a main platform. A notion emerged some years back at the UN called ‘Responsibility to Protect’ which argued that in essence the international system can intervene if a government is in gross and repeated abuse of the basic rights and wellbeing of its own people. That produced the international intervention in Libya in 2011, and the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime. But subsequent, unending civil war has shown the fallacy of those actions.