Table of Contents
Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution
Introduction
Conflict prevention, conflict management and conflict resolution describe different approaches to dealing with disputes and violent conflicts.
Conflict prevention seeks to prevent violence from occurring or escalating. Conflict management seeks to limit violence and control its consequences. Conflict resolution seeks to address underlying causes and relationships in ways that can produce a sustainable settlement.
These approaches are central to diplomacy, international organizations, peacebuilding, mediation and international security.
Conflict Prevention
Conflict prevention consists of measures designed to prevent disputes from becoming violent or to prevent existing violence from escalating.
Prevention can occur before, during or after periods of tension.
Structural prevention addresses underlying political, economic and social conditions associated with conflict.
Operational prevention involves immediate diplomatic, political or security measures designed to prevent escalation.
Early Warning
Early warning involves identifying indicators that suggest an increased risk of violent conflict.
Potential indicators include:
- Political exclusion
- Escalating hate speech
- Military mobilization
- Economic deterioration
- Large-scale displacement
- Breakdown of negotiations
- Communal violence
- Political repression
- Border incidents
Early warning system collects and analyzes information to identify emerging risks.
Early action means taking preventive measures after warning signs are identified.
Preventive Diplomacy
Preventive diplomacy involves diplomatic measures designed to prevent disputes from becoming violent or to prevent violence from escalating.
Methods may include:
- Negotiation
- Mediation
- Shuttle diplomacy
- Confidence-building measures
- Fact-finding missions
- Good offices
- Diplomatic communication
Conflict Management
Conflict management seeks to control violence and reduce its destructive consequences without necessarily resolving all underlying causes.
The objective may be to:
- Stop immediate violence
- Reduce civilian suffering
- Prevent escalation
- Establish communication
- Create conditions for negotiations
Ceasefire is one of the most common conflict-management instruments.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution seeks to address the underlying causes, interests and relationships that sustain a conflict.
It differs from simply stopping violence.
A ceasefire may end active fighting while leaving the underlying dispute unresolved.
Resolution may require addressing:
- Political representation
- Territory
- Security arrangements
- Resource distribution
- Identity issues
- Governance
- Justice
- Economic inequality
Negotiation
Negotiation involves direct communication between parties seeking to reach an agreement.
Direct negotiation occurs without a formal third-party mediator.
Shuttle diplomacy involves a mediator moving between parties that are unwilling or unable to negotiate directly.
Bargaining involves exchanging concessions to reach an acceptable outcome.
Mediation
Mediation involves a third party assisting conflicting parties in reaching a negotiated settlement.
A mediator may:
- Facilitate communication
- Clarify proposals
- Develop compromise options
- Reduce misunderstandings
- Provide guarantees
- Help design implementation arrangements
Mediator impartiality refers to the degree to which the mediator is perceived as sufficiently neutral or independent.
Mediator leverage refers to the mediator’s ability to influence the parties.
Good Offices
Good offices refers to assistance provided by a third party to bring conflicting parties into communication or negotiations.
The third party may facilitate contact without necessarily participating directly in negotiations.
Confidence-Building Measures
Confidence-building measures (CBMs) are arrangements designed to reduce mistrust and uncertainty between conflicting parties.
Examples include:
- Military hotlines
- Advance notification of exercises
- Exchange of information
- Troop withdrawal
- Monitoring arrangements
- Prisoner exchanges
- Border communication mechanisms
Ceasefires and Armistices
Ceasefire refers to an agreement or arrangement to suspend fighting.
Temporary ceasefire pauses hostilities for a specified period.
Permanent ceasefire seeks to establish a lasting end to active hostilities.
Armistice is a formal agreement suspending hostilities, often as a step toward a broader political settlement.
Peace Agreements
Peace agreement establishes arrangements intended to end or transform a conflict.
It may address:
- Political power-sharing
- Security arrangements
- Territorial administration
- Elections
- Disarmament
- Reintegration
- Constitutional reform
- Transitional justice
Comprehensive peace agreement addresses multiple dimensions of a conflict rather than only military issues.
Transitional Justice
Transitional justice refers to legal and institutional measures used by societies emerging from conflict or authoritarian rule to address past violations.
Mechanisms may include:
- Criminal prosecutions
- Truth commissions
- Reparations
- Institutional reform
- Memorialization
Disarmament and Reintegration
Disarmament involves the collection and disposal or secure storage of weapons.
Demobilization involves the formal dissolution or reduction of armed forces or armed groups.
Reintegration involves helping former combatants return to civilian life.
Together these processes are often described as DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration.
Conflict Transformation
Conflict transformation goes beyond settlement of an immediate dispute and seeks to change relationships, structures and patterns that contribute to conflict.
It may address:
- Institutional inequality
- Social exclusion
- Historical grievances
- Political structures
- Community relations
- Economic inequalities
Peacebuilding
Peacebuilding seeks to establish conditions that reduce the likelihood of renewed conflict.
It may involve:
- Institution building
- Governance reform
- Economic recovery
- Rule of law
- Reconciliation
- Community development
- Security-sector reform
Key Distinctions
| Concept | Main objective |
|---|---|
| Conflict prevention | Prevent violence or escalation |
| Conflict management | Control violence and its consequences |
| Conflict resolution | Address underlying causes and reach settlement |
| Conflict transformation | Change structures and relationships sustaining conflict |
| Mediation | Third-party assistance in negotiation |
| Negotiation | Direct bargaining among parties |
| Peacebuilding | Build conditions for sustainable peace |
| Ceasefire | Suspend hostilities |
| DDR | Disarm, demobilize and reintegrate combatants |
Key Terms at a Glance
Conflict prevention: Efforts to prevent violent conflict.
Preventive diplomacy: Diplomacy intended to prevent escalation.
Early warning: Identification of indicators of conflict risk.
Conflict management: Measures to control ongoing conflict.
Conflict resolution: Addressing underlying causes and reaching settlement.
Conflict transformation: Changing structures and relationships underlying conflict.
Negotiation: Direct bargaining among parties.
Mediation: Third-party assistance in negotiations.
Good offices: Facilitation of communication between parties.
Ceasefire: Suspension of hostilities.
Peacebuilding: Building conditions for sustainable peace.
DDR: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration.
Related Glossaries
Related topics include 5.5 Negotiation, Mediation and Conflict Diplomacy, 6.4 International Humanitarian Law, 9.5 Collective Security and Collective Defence, 10.1 War and Armed Conflict, 10.6 Peacekeeping, Peacemaking and Peacebuilding, and 17.2 Poverty and Global Inequality.