This volume analyzes the successes and failures of foreign interventions in intrastate ethnic wars. Adding value to current research in the fields of international security and conflict resolution, it adopts the unique approach of considering successes of third party actions not by durable peace established in a target country (which is the more traditional approach) but by actual fulfilment of intervention goals and objectives, because multilateral interventions are more likely to achieve success in the pursuit of their goals than unilateral actions. Robert Nalbandov takes in-depth studies of interventions in Chad, Georgia, Somalia and Rwanda and relates them to the main theories of international security - the ethnic security dilemma and the credible commitment problem - to produce a fascinating and valuable volume.

This volume brings together expert case studies on a range of experiences of third-party interventions in civil wars. The chapters consider the role of a variety of organisations, including the United Nations, NATO, the European Union, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the African Union, and the Organization of American States. Each case study features a presentation and analysis of empirical data in two dimensions: the organisation’s general capabilities to carry out intervention in civil wars and, specific to one particular intervention, the conflict context in which it happened. This serves two purposes. First, to offer insights into the dynamics of each individual case and helping us understand the specific outcome of an intervention effort, i.e., why did a mission (partially) succeed or fail. Second, it enables us to make real comparisons between the cases and draw policy-relevant conclusions about the conditions under which military, civilian and hybrid intervention missions are likely to succeed. This book was originally published as a special issue of Civil Wars.

In International Intervention and the Problem of Legitimacy Andrew C. Gilbert argues for an ethnographic analysis of international intervention as a series of encounters, focusing on the relations of difference and inequality, and the question of legitimacy that permeate such encounters. He discusses the transformations that happen in everyday engagements between intervention agents and their target populations, and also identifies key instabilities that emerge out of such engagements. Gilbert highlights the struggles, entanglements and inter-dependencies between and among foreign agents, and the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina that channel and shape intervention and how it unfolds. Drawing upon nearly two years of fieldwork studying in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gilbert's probing analysis identifies previously overlooked sites, processes, and effects of international intervention, and suggests new comparative opportunities for the study of transnational action that seeks to save and secure human lives and improve the human condition. Above all, International Intervention and the Problem of Legitimacy foregrounds and analyzes the open-ended, innovative, and unpredictable nature of international intervention that is usually omitted from the ordered representations of the technocratic vision and the confident assertions of many critiques.

In the contemporary discipline of conflict resolution, adjudication and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are often seen as antagonistic trends. This important book contends that, on the contrary, it is the bringing together of these trends that holds the most promise for an effective system of international justice. With great insight and passion, built firmly on a vast knowledge of the field, Lars Kirchhoff exposes the contemporary structural barriers to effective conflict resolution, defining where adjudication ends and ADR—and particularly the recent development of mediated third party intervention from an ‘art’ to a veritable ‘science’—must come into play. The work starts by defining the challenges, potentials and shortcomings of different approaches to conflict resolution in an interdependent world—where the multiplicity of actors, topics and interests involved even in seemingly bilateral conflict situations is clearly manifest—and goes on to define useful models and connect the various elements relevant for the resolution of conflicts in a transparent way. In the course of its investigation the book accomplishes the following: • illustrates the various departure points and perspectives scholars of conflict resolution have taken as the basis for their work; discusses who should become involved in conflicts as a third party and by which techniques this should occur; systematically conveys the nature and consequences of intervention through mediation, focusing on the method’s critical challenges; and clarifies the particular model of international mediation under development through UN initiatives. In approaching these intertwined topics, the author draws concrete conclusions for the realms of international law and related disciplines as well as for the organizational context of the United Nations. He explores such diverse scenarios as conflicts between States, conflicts involving international organizations, and—in accordance with the changing parameters of international law—even conflicts involving individuals, clarifying which constellations can be tackled by international mediation and which conflicts should be dealt with by other forms of diplomacy or adjudication. It is the conviction of many intermediaries and scholars that the considerable potential inherent in resolving conflicts peacefully is rarely put into practice. Although some of the reasons for this phenomenon are beyond the influence of scholarly debate, in many instances the reasons for failure of peaceful resolution processes are more structural or systemic in nature. It is the great virtue of this book that it establishes enough clarity in an unclear and complex field to make concrete and workable recommendations in these instances, and for that reason it will be of immeasurable value and benefit to all scholars, policymakers, and activists dedicated to the pursuit of peace.

The wave of ethnic conflict that has recently swept across parts of Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Africa has led many political observers to fear that these conflicts are contagious. Initial outbreaks in such places as Bosnia, Chechnya, and Rwanda, if not contained, appear capable of setting off epidemics of catastrophic proportions. In this volume, David Lake and Donald Rothchild have organized an ambitious, sophisticated exploration of both the origins and spread of ethnic conflict, one that will be useful to policymakers and theorists alike. The editors and contributors argue that ethnic conflict is not caused directly by intergroup differences or centuries-old feuds and that the collapse of the Soviet Union did not simply uncork ethnic passions long suppressed. They look instead at how anxieties over security, competition for resources, breakdown in communication with the government, and the inability to make enduring commitments lead ethnic groups into conflict, and they consider the strategic interactions that underlie ethnic conflict and its effective management. How, why, and when do ethnic conflicts either diffuse by precipitating similar conflicts elsewhere or escalate by bringing in outside parties? How can such transnational ethnic conflicts best be managed? Following an introduction by the editors, which lays a strong theoretical foundation for approaching these questions, Timur Kuran, Stuart Hill, Donald Rothchild, Colin Cameron, Will H. Moore, and David R. Davis examine the diffusion of ideas across national borders and ethnic alliances. Without disputing that conflict can spread, James D. Fearon, Stephen M. Saideman, Sandra Halperin, and Paula Garb argue that ethnic conflict today is primarily a local phenomenon and that it is breaking out in many places simultaneously for similar but largely independent reasons. Stephen D. Krasner, Daniel T. Froats, Cynthia S. Kaplan, Edmond J. Keller, Bruce W. Jentleson, and I. William Zartman focus on the management of transnational ethnic conflicts and emphasize the importance of domestic confidence-building measures, international intervention, and preventive diplomacy.

This second edition of Ethnic Conflict in World Politics is an introduction to a new era in which civil society, states, and international actors attempt to channel ethnic challenges to world order and security into conventional politics. From Africa's post-colonial rebellions in the 1960s and 1970s to anti-immigrant violence in the 1990s the authors survey the historical, geographic, and cultural diversity of ethnopolitical conflict. Using an analytical model to elucidate four well-chosen case studies?the Kurds, the Miskitos, the Chinese in Malaysia, and the Turks in Germany?the authors give students tools for analyzing emerging conflicts based on the demands of nationalists, indigenous peoples, and immigrant minorities throughout the world. The international community has begun to respond more quickly and constructively to these conflicts than it did to civil wars in divided Yugoslavia and genocide in Rwanda by using the emerging doctrines of proactive peacemaking and peace enforcement that are detailed in this book. Concludes by identifying five principles of international doctrine for managing conflict in ethnically diverse societies. The text is illustrated with maps, tables, and figures.

This volume is comprised of over 2,300 annotations on a wide array of issues and topics germane to the subject of preventing the atrocities of genocide and managing these conflicts when they do arise. Samuel Totten brings together in one comprehensive collection the research and findings in various fields, such as political science, sociology, history, and psychology, to enable specialists in genocide studies, peace studies, and conflict resolution to benefit from the insights of a diverse range of scholars and foster an understanding of how the various components of genocide studies connect. Among the topics included are: key conventions, international treaties, and covenants genocide early warning signals and forecasting risk data bases sanctions peacekeeping missions conflict resolution the International Criminal Court realpolitik vis-à-vis the issue of genocide prevention and intervention key non-governmental agencies key governmental and UN bodies working on these important issues. In addition to the annotations, Totten frames the bibliography with a major essay that introduces the reader to the subject of prevention and intervention of genocide, raising a host of critical issues regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of various approaches germane to issues of managing these conflicts.