Mediating International Crises

Mediating International Crises
Author: Jonathan Wilkenfeld
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2007-05-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135994781

This new book shows how international crises are dangerous episodes that can be destabilizing not only to the actors directly involved but also to the entire international system. Recognizing the primacy of crises as defining moments in international relations, scholars and policy makers alike are increasingly concerned with identifying mechanisms for crisis prevention, management and resolution. Mediating International Crises is the first comprehensive study into one such mechanism that has been used with increasing frequency in the 20th Century: mediation by a third party. This important research attempts to determine whether third party mediation is an effective means of alleviating or managing the turbulent and violent consequences of crises. The authors examine three approaches to mediation: facilitation communication between parties, formulating possible agreements and manipulating the parties through sanctions or rewards. They explore how these mediation approaches affect crisis outcomes through sanctions or rewards The book begins with a thorough discussion of the theoretical literature on mediation, with particular attention paid to the important distinction between crisis management and conflict resolution. The authors then provide empirical analyses of instances of mediation in 20th century international crises, which is supplemented with data derived from simulated negotiation settings with human subjects.

Research Handbook on Mediating International Crises

Research Handbook on Mediating International Crises
Author: Jonathan Wilkenfeld
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 439
Release: 2019
Genre: Crises
ISBN: 1788110706

Current conceptions of mediation can often fail to capture the complexity and intricacy of modern conflicts. This Research Handbook addresses this problem by presenting the leading expert opinions on international mediation, examining how international mediation practices, mechanisms and institutions should adapt to the changing characteristics of contemporary international crises.

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 Go-between

The Go-between
Author: Isak Svensson
Publisher: US Institute of Peace Press
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2010
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1601270623

This volume explores international mediation through the lens of Ambassador Jan Eliasson, an international go-between with a remarkable track record. The authors draw lessons for the peacemaking process from their examination of how Eliasson entered, prepared, pursued, and finally ended his mediation efforts.

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.

Mediating International Crises

Mediating International Crises
Author: Jonathan Wilkenfeld
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2007-05-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 113599479X

This book investigates the crisis management mechanism-mediation by third parties to determine the effectiveness of mediation efforts in crisis negotiations.

International Conflict Mediation

International Conflict Mediation
Author: Jacob Bercovitch
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2008-12-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1134054157

This book examines how new empirical approaches to mediation can shed fresh light on the effectiveness of different patterns of conflict management, and offers guidelines on the process of international mediation. International conflict mediation has become one of, if not the most prominent and important conflict resolution methods of the early 21st century. This book argues that traditional approaches to mediation have been inadequate, and that in order to really understand how the process of international mediation works, studies need to operate within an explicit theoretical framework, adopt systematic empirical approaches and use a diversity of methods to identify critical interactions, contexts and relationships. This volume captures recent important changes in the field of international conflict mediation, and includes essays by leading scholars on a variety of critical aspects of conflict management, using state of the art analytical tools and up to date data. This book will of great interest to scholars of peace and conflict studies, methods in social science, and of International Relations in general.

International Multiparty Mediation and Conflict Management

International Multiparty Mediation and Conflict Management
Author: Sinisa Vukovic
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2015-10-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317610725

This volume aims to provide a detailed explanation of the effects of cooperation and coordination on international multiparty mediation in conflicts. Contemporary scholarship stresses that the crucial ingredients for a successful multiparty mediation are ‘consistency in interests’ and ‘cooperation and coordination’ between mediators. This book seeks to supplement that understanding by investigating how much the ‘consistency of interests’ and ‘cooperation and coordination’ affect the overall process, and what happens to the mediation process when mediating parties do not share the same idea and interest in finding a common solution. At the same time, it explores the obstacles in achieving coordination and coherence between various mediators in such an environment and how to surmount the problems that multiple mediators face when operating without a ‘common script’ in attempting to mediate a negotiated settlement. The study investigates three distinct mechanisms (both on the systemic and contextual level) that have the potential to deter defection from a (potential) member of the multiparty mediation coalition: geo-political shifts, changes in the conflict dynamics, and mediators’ ability to bargain for a cooperative relationship. As the number of states and international actors that are involved in mediation increases, a careful assessment is necessary not only of their relative institutional strengths and weaknesses, but also of how to promote complementary efforts and how to synchronize the whole process when one actor is transferring the responsibilities for mediation to others. This book will be of much interest to students of mediation, conflict management, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/International-Multiparty-Mediation-and-Conflict-Management-Challenges-of/Vukovic/p/book/9781138087897, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

The Mediation Dilemma

The Mediation Dilemma
Author: Kyle Beardsley
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2011-09-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801462622

Mediation has become a common technique for terminating violent conflicts both within and between states; while mediation has a strong record in reducing hostilities, it is not without its own problems. In The Mediation Dilemma, Kyle Beardsley highlights its long-term limitations. The result of this oft-superficial approach to peacemaking, immediate and reassuring as it may be, is often a fragile peace. With the intervention of a third-party mediator, warring parties may formally agree to concessions that are insupportable in the long term and soon enough find themselves at odds again. Beardsley examines his argument empirically using two data sets and traces it through several historical cases: Henry Kissinger's and Jimmy Carter's initiatives in the Middle East, 1973–1979; Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 mediation in the Russo-Japanese War; and Carter’s attempt to mediate in the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis. He also draws upon the lessons of the 1993 Arusha Accords, the 1993 Oslo Accords, Haiti in 1994, the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement in Sri Lanka, and the 2005 Memorandum of Understanding in Aceh. Beardsley concludes that a reliance on mediation risks a greater chance of conflict relapse in the future, whereas the rejection of mediation risks ongoing bloodshed as war continues. The trade-off between mediation’s short-term and long-term effects is stark when the third-party mediator adopts heavy-handed forms of leverage, and, Beardsley finds, multiple mediators and intergovernmental organizations also do relatively poorly in securing long-term peace. He finds that mediation has the greatest opportunity to foster both short-term and long-term peace when a single third party mediates among belligerents that can afford to wait for a self-enforcing arrangement to be reached.