Conflict Resolution and Peace Building

In the last decade-and-a-half, conflict studies has emerged as a distinct discipline in India. Over the years, there have been conscious and continuous efforts by the international community to build certain institutional arrangements to prevent international conflicts from escalating into war and, if they did, to maintain them at the manageable levels and resolve them at the earliest. Likewise, the subject field of conflict studies has directed its energies on the one hand to understand the nature and causes of conflict and, on the other, to evaluate the methods, procedures and practices employed to resolve it. In today's world, international organizations - both global and regional - have come to play a crucial role in preventing, managing, and containing conflict, and if conflict escalates, in peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and post-conflict reconstruction. The precipitous proliferation of peacekeeping operations around the globe since the 1990s is a testimony to the critical necessity of engaging international organizations in resolving conflicts, building peace, and rebuilding societies. It is even more critical to understand and evaluate the framework, intent and role of international organizations in the resolution of conflicts. While one may countenance differing positions on the efficacy (or success) of international organizations in resolving a given conflict situation, it is posited here that the centrality of their involvement cannot be denied, and, many a time, the outcome of a peacekeeping operation may well be contingent upon the extent or nature of that involvement. The Cambodian crisis situation is pertinent to the overall scheme of this study because the sheer magnitude of the Cambodian crisis - and the scale of UN operations where it was involved in civilian administration, disarming of warring groups, conducting elections, humanitarian aid and relief, and restoration of duly elected government - has been striking. It represents a good example of the severe challenges faced by UN in the field as well as in the relentless scrutiny of its role in conflict resolution. This book will be of use to students, researchers, academics, teachers and policy makers alike.