Theoretical Concepts on different schools on
resolving conflicts
The Conflict Management School
Peacebuilding – Debated Context
Conflict is a divergence of interests, views or behavior between
persons or groups, and is normal in any society. When dealt with
in a constructive way, conflict can lead to positive outcomes for
individuals and society. However, conflict can also lead to
violence when channeled destructively.
Since the end of World War II there had been 228 armed
conflicts in 148 locations around the globe. In 2004 the number
of wars and armed conflicts was estimated to range from 30
(Harbom and Wallensteen 2005) to 42 (Schreiber 2005)
depending on the definition of armed conflict.
There are different definitions of armed conflict in the literature.
Their common determinants are that armed conflicts involve
organized, armed groups, in most cases with the government as
a party to the conflict.
Peacebuilding – Debated Context
􀁺 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (www.pcr.uu.se/research/UCDP) is
frequently used data sets in the world.
􀁺 In order to be an Armed Conflict there should be at least 25 battlerelated deaths per calendar year.
􀁺 In order to be a War, there should be at least more than 1000
battlerelated deaths per calendar year.
􀁺 Peacebuilding is understood as an overarching term to describe a longterm process covering all activities with the overall objective to prevent
violent outbreaks of conflict or to sustainably transform armed conflicts
into constructive peaceful ways of managing conflict. This definition,
however, is only partial because it is not entirely clear on the scope and
time frame of peacebuilding.
Peacebuilding – Debated Context
􀁺 In the peacebuilding discourse, Galtung (1969) distinguishes two forms of
peace—negative peace (end of violence) and positive peace (peaceful
society at all levels).
􀁺 A narrow definition of peacebuilding based on the concept of negative
peace is evident in the 1992 UN Agenda for Peace where the aim of
peacebuilding is defined as preventing large scale violence or the
recurrence of violence immediately after wars or armed conflicts (1-3 years,
maximum 5 years).
􀁺 A wider definition sees the end of peacebuilding when a positive peace has
been achieved.
􀁺 Thus Positive Peacebuilding aims at preventing and managing armed
conflict and sustaining peace after large-scale organized violence has
ended in order to create conducive conditions for economic reconstruction,
development and democratization.
Peacebuilding – Different Schools
􀁺 Four schools of though can be distinguished within
peace research. These schools use different
terminologies, and have different conceptual
understandings, approaches and actors. The history
of these schools of thought is closely linked to the
history and evolution of the field of
Peacebuilding.
􀁺 They are namely:
􀁺 The Conflict Management School
􀁺 The Conflict Resolution School
􀁺 The Complementary School
􀁺 The Conflict Transformation School
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 The approach of the Conflict Management school is to end wars
through different diplomatic initiatives. This is the oldest school of
thought, closely linked to the institutionalization of peacebuilding
in international law.
􀁺 The peacebuilders within the logic of this school are external
diplomats from bilateral or multilateral organizations.
􀁺 Its theoretical approach is referred to as outcome-oriented
approach, which aims to identify and bring to the negotiating
table leaders of the conflict parties. Its main focus is on the shortterm management of the armed conflict.
􀁺 Recent examples include the Camp David agreement and the
Sudan peace accord.
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 Utilizing a multidisciplinary approach, we could state that the
father of conflict management is Thomas C. Schelling, an
American economist and Nobel Prize winner, who authored the
Strategy of Conflict in 1960. Schelling’s main goal was to lay the
foundation for a theory of conflict that would includee the fields of
economics, psychology, sociology and the law.
􀁺 Research and theory on conflict management has been further
developed by Allan Horwitz, Calvin Morill, James Tucker, Mark
Cooney, M.P. Baumgartner, Roberta Senechal de la Roche,
Marian Borg, Ellis Godard, Scott Phillips, Bradley Campbell,
Willam Ury, Roger Fisher….
􀁺 Conflict Management Approach is useful in many fields such as
Business Management, Law, International Relations, Political
Science and also at the personal and intimate level.
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 Conflict Management is a process of making progress –
developing mutual gains of both parties, achieving agreements,
lying foundations for further negotiations or managing the conflict
as much as possible to reduce violence.
􀁺 In legal sense – CM is application of existing laws & regulations
to ensure the rights & provides remedies that reconcile past
prejudices.
􀁺 In the political discourse management of conflict is sharing of
power and privileges.
􀁺 Two schools of thoughts prevails within CM Discourse
􀁺 Conflict as ‘Pathological & Dysfunctional’ – needs to be
suppressed or end it.
􀁺 Conflict as functional means for ‘Social Change’ – constructive
social process.
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 Power mediation is a special form of conflict management, with the
same criteria as the outcome-oriented approach but including the
possibility of applying external power, including financial carrots and/or
military sticks, on the parties.
􀁺 Examples include the 1995 US mediated peace treaty for Bosnia, when
the US linked reconstruction support to a peace agreement, and
threatened the bombing of Bosnia-Serb artillery in case no agreement
was reached.
􀁺 There are two forms of interventions in Conflict Managements :
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 What forms and means used to for conflict
interventions:
􀁺 Right - based Approach – Legal
􀁺 Interest – based Approach – Alternate
􀁺 Right –based approach is the use of the existing
legal instruments for interventions in conflicts such
as litigations & arbitration procedures through courts
& police.
􀁺 Interest – based approach look for mediation,
negotiations, and other collaborative methods for
conflict interventions.
The Conflict Management School
􀁺 Strategies of CM are: force, withdrawal, collaboration,
accommodation, compromise, consensus, passive acceptance,
cheating, lying, requesting, maneuvering, pressuring,
threatening, demanding, monitoring, arguing by rules, staying
neutral, exploiting etc.
􀁺 The preference for a particular CM procedures depends upon the
time and context.
􀁺 Most used approaches for intervening conflict through CM
approaches are:
􀁺 Negotiation
􀁺 Mediation in Conflict
􀁺 Arbitration in Conflict
􀁺 Litigations in conflicts
The Conflict Management School
Critique of Conflict Management
􀁺
The Conflict Management school has been criticized
because mediators tend to concentrate solely on the top
leadership of the conflicting parties, are not always neutral
(in internal conflicts), and the approach overlooks deep
causes of conflicts and thus cannot guarantee long-term
stability of the peace agreement.
􀁺 Many criticize that CM only work on to establish Negative
Peace and completely undermines the aspects of Positive
Peace.
􀁺 It is only involves the High Level People completely
undermining the role of the other people or civil society thus
neglecting the people’s concerns and needs.
The Conflict Resolution School
• There are three approaches to act or intervene on any conflict.
They are:
– Rights Based Approach
– Interest Based Approach
– Need Based Approach
• Conflict resolution as a discipline diverged from power-based
conflict theory, which dominated and still dominates political
science, and international relations; and converged from
psychology and sociology, which was interested in group
dynamics, motivation and relationships between institutional
structures.
• So many view CR & CM as identical but CM is an ‘outcome
oriented approach’ whereas CM is a ‘process oriented approach’.
The Conflict Resolution School
• The foundations of this discipline is emerged in Europe and
North America and were particularly shaped in the twentieth
century by the first and second world wars.
• Principal antecedents of conflict resolution included philosopher
and sociologist Georg Simmel (1858-1914) and Gestalt
(influential on social psychology) psychologist Kurt Lewin (18901947). Modern conflict resolution scholars, often quote Georg
Simmel, for his contribution to the field for his book Conflict,
published posthumously in English in 1955.
• Other contributors to the development of this schools are Lewis
Coser, Kenneth Boulding, Anatol Rapoport, Johan Galtung, John
Burton, Peter Wallensteen, Roget Fisher, William Ury, William I
Zartman, Edward Azar, Thomas Ohlson, Paul Rogers,
Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Roger Fisher, Willam Ury etc.
The Conflict Resolution School
• This schools was in academic research in the 1970s, adopting
strategies from socio-psychological conflict resolution at the
interpersonal level.
• Normative political theory saw conflict as a competitive struggle to
be won by one side. In contrast, needs-based conflict resolution
theorists developed a cooperative approach to conflict resolution,
focusing on fundamental human needs, to encourage ‘win-win
solutions’.
• Thus Conflict resolution is any reduction in the severity of a conflict
which may involve conflict management, but adopt less extreme
tactics; where conflicting parties reach agreement on enough issues
that the conflict stops; or removal of the underlying causes of the
conflict.
• The approach of the Conflict Resolution School is to solve the
underlying causes of conflict and rebuild destroyed relationships
between the parties.
The Conflict Resolution School
• Initially in Conflict Resolution school, peacebuilders were mainly
Western academic institutions carrying out conflict resolution
workshops. The principle of these workshops is to bring
individuals from the conflict parties together that are close to or
can influence their leaders. Workshops are designed to rebuild
relationships between the representatives of the conflict parties
and work with them to solve the causes of the conflict.
• As the approach evolved, additional participants entered the
field, such as international or local NGOs, CSOs, religious
leaders who can exerts some influence over conflicting parties.
The common features are that all actors work to address the root
causes of conflict with relationship-building and long-term
resolutionoriented approaches.
The Conflict Resolution School
The Conflict Resolution School
• The methods used in ‘Need Based’ Conflict Resolution are :
– Integrative Bargaining Workshop
– Analytic or Interactive Problem solving Workshops
– Human Relations workshops
• Integrative bargaining (Principled Negotiations) involves “both
concession making and searching for mutually profitable
solutions”. This tries to move beyond position-based bargaining
and determine underlying interests
• Analytical & problem solving workshop is “nontraditional,
nongovernmental approach emphasizing analytical dialogue and
problem-solving”. It begins with an analysis of the political needs
and fears – Track II Diplomacy.
The Conflict Resolution School
• Human Relation workshops recognize and deal with
dehumanizing biases, discriminations, and prejudices and
creates learning environments that contribute to positive
interpersonal relations and the self-esteem of all parties
• Conflict resolution scholarship, despite its preference for a needs
based or cooperation approach to conflict resolution, still
acknowledges the place power-based and rights-based methods
have in conflict resolution.
• Realist theory argues that international security is best achieved
through the action of Great Powers which can create regional
power balances in unstable regions across the globe, by force or
by “geostrategic mediation”
• Thus CR is incorporates CM Approach within itself and give the
need based dimentions to the theory.
The Conflict Resolution School
• Thus the approach of the Conflict Resolution school is to solve
the underlying causes of conflict and rebuild destroyed
relationships between the parties.
• Conflict resolution is a process which is worked our with parties
1. Voluntarily – “Ripeness, “Leadership”, “Civil society”
2. Agreement – Big or Small
3. Regulate the issue
4. Stop actions – Ceasefire
5. Implementation of Agreements
• Conflict Resolution is a social situation where the armed
conflicting parties in a (voluntary) agreements resolve to
peacefully live – and/or dissolve – their basic incompatibilities
and henceforth cease to use arms against one another. –
Uppsala University.
The Conflict Resolution School
Criticisms of Conflict Resolution Schools
• The critics of CR schools points out that CR undermines the
basic definition of conflict as Conflict cannot be resolved, it can
either managed or transformed to other forms.
• Conflict Resolution is not necessary identical with Peace… The
definitions is dependent on what the parties wants or can agree
to include.
• There is a danger that the agreed form of conflict resolution will
contain privileges for the armed groups, at the expenses of other
interests in the society.
• Conflict Resolution school has been highly criticized, especially
by supporters of the Conflict Management school, because the
process is too lengthy to be able to stop wars and because
improving communications and building relationships between
conflict parties do not necessarily result in an agreement to end
the war.
The Conflict Resolution School
Criticisms of Conflict Resolution Schools
• Most of the critics also criticize that Conflict Resolution is rather a
Conflict Manipulation as parties use conflict resolution process
whilst in reality, dialogue is only engaged to ‘buy-time’ and
increase bargaining power.
• Some also criticize that conflicting parties use Conflict Resolution
Approach to legitimize their actions and a window of opportunity
for them to be a legitimate parties.
• Similarly there is also criticism regarding the sustainability of the
Conflict Resolution approach as most of the Peace Process
which adopt Conflict Resolution Approach has crumbled after
certain period of time. Most of the Peace Agreements are
violated or broken after sometime.
• From 1989 – 2005, there are 144 Peace Agreements which
resolved 42 conflicts. So this questions on the approach as a
whole regarding its sustainability.