GRASPING THE NETTLE
Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict
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$22.50 $18.00
(Paperback)
978-1-929223-60-2
(Hardback)
978-1-929223-61-9
OUT OF PRINT
USIP Press Books
February 2005
432 pp.
, 6" x 9"
Among the unwelcome legacies of the past century are a group of conflicts, both intrastate and interstate, that seem destined never to end. From Kashmir to Nagorno-Karabakh, Colombia to Sudan, the Korean Peninsula to the Middle East, these deeply entrenched, intermittently violent conflicts have so far resisted all outside efforts to resolve them.
What lessons—aside from the apparent futility of mediation—can such dismal situations possibly offer? As the distinguished contributors to Grasping the Nettle make plain, this is not a rhetorical question. Unyielding conflicts offer numerous insights—not only about the sources of intractability but also about such facets of mediation and conflict management as how to gain leverage, when to engage and disengage, how to balance competing goals, and who to enlist to play supporting roles.
The first part of this eye-opening volume identifies and analyzes the defining characteristics and underlying dynamics of intractable conflicts. The second part turns the spotlight on no fewer than eight current cases, in each instance chronicling the conflict's evolution, evaluating the internal and external factors that have conspired to prevent a settlement, and assessing whether past peacemaking initiatives have in fact only aggravated the conflict. The conclusion makes the point that even intractable conflicts eventually end and highlights the strategic approaches and tactical steps that have yielded success in the past for mediators and conflict managers from governments, international organizations, and NGOs.
Chester A. Crocker is the James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies at Georgetown University where his teaching and research focus on conflict management and regional security issues. He served as chairman of the board of the United States Institute of Peace (1992-2004), and continues as a member of its board. From 1981-1989, he was U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs. As such, he was the principal diplomatic architect and mediator in the prolonged negotiations among Angola, Cuba, and South Africa that led to Namibia’s transition to independence, and to the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola. He serves on the boards of ASA Ltd., a NYSE-listed, closed-end fund focused on gold mining; Universal Corporation, Inc., a leading independent trading company in tobacco, agricultural and lumber products; Good Governance Group Ltd; and First Africa Holdings Ltd. He serves on the advisory board of the National Defense University in Washington. Dr. Crocker is the author of High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood, co-author (with Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall) of Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases, and coeditor of Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict; Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict; and Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World.
Fen Osler Hampsonis professor of international affairs and director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. Hampson was a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 1993-94. He is chair of the Human Security Track of the Helsinki Process on Globalization and Democracy, a joint initiative of the governments of Finland and Tanzania.
Pamela R. Aall is the Institute's vice president for domestic programs, Education and Training Center. Before joining the Institute in 1993, she was a consultant to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and to the Institute of International Education. She held a number of positions at the Rockefeller Foundation. She has also worked for the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam and Brussels), the International Council for Educational Development (New York), and the New York Botanical Garden.
She holds a B.A. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Columbia University and attended the London School of Economics, conducting research on political and economic integration in Scandinavia and Europe.
Browse Inside the Book
Introduction
Contents
Introduction: Mapping the Nettle Field - Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall
Understanding Intractability
Comparative Studies of Long Wars - Roy Licklider
Analyzing Intractability - I. William Zartman
Nature, Dynamics, and Phases of Intractability - Louis Kriesberg
Mediation in the Most Resistant Cases - Jacob Bercovitch
Negotiating Intractable Conflicts: The Contributions of Unofficial Intermediaries - Diana Chigas
Cases of Intractable Conflict
Can Sudan Escape Its Intractability? - J. Stephen Morrison and Alex de Waal
Intractability and Third-Party Mediation in the Balkans - Steven L. Burg
Angola: The End of an Intractable Conflict - Paul Hare
Third Parties and Intractable Conflicts: The Case of Colombia - Cynthia J. Arnson and Teresa Whitfield
The Uses of Deadlock: Intractability in Eurasia - Charles King
Kashmir: Fifty Years of Running in Place - Howard B. Schaffer and Teresita C. Schaffer
"Intractable" Confrontation on the Korean Peninsula: A Contribution to Regional Stability
Intractability and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Stephen Cohen
Beyond Resolution? The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict - Shibley Telhami
When Endless Conflicts End
Conclusion: From Intractable to Tractable-- the Outlook and Implications for Third Parties - Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, and Pamela Aall
Related Titles
Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World
Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases
Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World
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