| Review of: | Grasping the Nettle, Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict edited by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson, Pamela Aall |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Raimo Lintonen |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management |
| Date accepted online: | 02/11/2007 |
| Published in print: | Volume 15, Issue 2, Pages 115-118 |
Book Reviews
An 'intractable conflict' has a long duration, it is not easily amenable to management or resolution and threats or occurrence of severe losses are connected with it. Intractability is in practice a matter of degree: therefore the difference from other types of conflict is quantitative. It is perhaps more informative to mention examples of such conflicts: Kashmir, Angola, the two Koreas, ex-Yugoslavia, the Caucasus, Israel and the Palestinians, Colombia and Sudan. Intractable conflicts are worth scholarly attention because, as the concept itself tells us, such conflicts are a long-term serious problem for much of the international community; they also often have a potential to spread.
The book basically tries to answer two questions: what are the causes of intractability and how could this be overcome especially by mediation and the engagement of third parties?
What could one learn about the reasons of intractability? A lot of them are identified. This is why the reader may wonder whether it is at all possible to turn intractable conflicts into tractable ones. At times the ambition for broad coverage approaches a catalogue-like presentation. True, this may help to sensitize readers to potentially relevant factors. The core of the explanation of intractability is clear: there is a self-sustaining logic, divorced from its original causes; conflict becomes institutionalized, a normality. The power of leaders and elites is dependent on the conflict; outwardly this is indicated by the defence of national sovereignty against foreign interference. Parties to conflict develop polarized and hardened identities. Compromise therefore becomes very difficult; even mediation is often strategically used as an instrument of conflict behaviour. No wonder, then, that there is often a reluctance to tackle intractable conflicts by third parties. Hence the metaphor behind the title of the book: when touched, nettles cause a burning pain.
Despite severe difficulties, the shared assumption of the authors seems to be that intractability can be overcome, and there is a need for external mediators' and other third-party involvement for this purpose. However, third parties are not always necessary: in the Angolan and South African cases the domestic parties ultimately occupied the main roles, although external players did make a supportive contribution at various stages. Management (e.g. limiting the use of force) of intractability is understandably easier than to reach a broader negotiated settlement not to mention a deeper transformation of conflicts. A further problem is that such management does not generally create stable outcomes. For mediators, an active and long-term commitment is rightfully advised.
The prerequisites and potential instruments of successful mediation or third-party involvement seem to be as numerous as the causes of intractability. Needless to say, the former should be seen as the backdrop of the latter. Let me briefly take up some of the conditions and instruments: discontinuities of international political environment (e.g. the end of the Cold War), changes of political leadership, concerted and committed efforts by mediators and other third parties, mechanisms, institutions and procedures constructed, both unofficial and official channels available, groundwork laid by previous agreements (a 'literature of agreement'), supporting linkages to other issues (conditionalities) and 'the ripeness' of conflict, to which I shall return below.
A shared explanatory concept which is discussed in many articles is 'ripeness' which assumes that a condition that pressures parties from conflict to co-operation is the cost and pain of a 'mutually hurting stalemate', which can allegedly be assessed objectively and typically in military terms. In
Finally 'persuasion', mentioned above, should be taken up for further elaboration. A question of interest is, how and why mediators together with their co-negotiators are able to reach common understandings through argumentation. Of importance in my experience could be: the interpretation of past experience, commitment of negotiators, how problems are framed, the credibility of evidence, the resonance of arguments with participants and regulating interpretations through formulations of arguments. More broadly, it seems that when intractable conflicts are transformed into tractable ones and more peaceable international and national societies begin to emerge, argumentative-ideational processes and forces are influential, as was the case with the end of the Cold War and apartheid in South Africa. Consequently, the metaphor behind the book's title should be reframed since nettles have long been tamed for medicinal and nutritional purposes.