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This paper attempts to critically assess the relevance of a gender framework of peace through the theoretical and empirical analysis of the roles women have played in conflict management operations in West Africa. The study considers gendered theories of war and peace, discusses the impact of conflict on women?s daily lives and the role women have played in conflict resolution, evaluates the difficult challenges women still face as participants in the peacekeeping in Africa, and concludes with a consideration of the impact of gender on the peace process. The paper follows a case study approach and centers on the analysis of women and conflict management in West Africa, particularly in Senegal, Nigeria, and the Mano River Union countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present discussion addresses the conditions for successful preventive diplomacy in a manner that: a) gives a better understanding of when and why certain conflict prevention strategies succeed, and b) develops an integrated policy-operations framework that can be adapted to individual conflicts. The analysis is applied to a comparative study of conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda, and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa focusing on how preventive diplomacy failed to thwart bloodshed in the former two cases and succeeded in precluding the escalation of violence in the latter. Causal inferences are made based on the case study evidence and the hypothesis is confirmed that where conflict prevention worked, it was the result of informed analysis and understanding of the situation; where it failed, there was a lack of political will and an analytical framework. Based on this assessment, the study concludes by proposing conditions that when present increase the likelihood of successful conflict prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women have played an important role in the transformation of conflicts in West Africa by becoming active across political, religious, and ethnic affiliations. Theirs is often conflict management at the local level, where Africa’s internal wars are increasingly fought, and their efforts can be the first steps towards reconciliation in communities devastated by violence. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the involvement of women in the peace process increases the likelihood for a sustainable peace.Given the fact that women have been excluded from the conflict resolution literature, there is a need for systematic studies regarding gender and conflict management. To focus the research question, the present study will examine the roles women have played in peace processes in West Africa. The purpose of this project is threefold: first, to consider gendered theories of war and peace and then cast my analysis of gender roles in Africa in a historical context; second, to engage in a case study analysis of women and conflict management in West Africa; and third, to assess the implications of peace research framed in a gender context and examine the contribution of women to the prevention and management of violent conflict. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars often regard the transnationalization of civil wars as unique expansions of the war and in doing so overlook the importance of the international system in contributing to the spillover of violence. The relationship between domestic situations and international contexts directly contribute to the transnationalization of civil war. I focus on the widening of the Darfur conflict from a domestic conflict to a war with strong international connections and ties. I argue that the transnationalization of war in Darfur is not the result of diffusion or contagion. Instead, the spillover of violence is the result of calculations on the part of the Sudanese government which is using the violence in Darfur to wage proxy wars in Chad and the Central African Republic. A dangerous system of war has developed, with the governments of Chad, CAR, and Sudan supporting and arming rebel groups in pursuit of wider political objectives and military goals. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are some peace process negotiations accompanied by bloody political violence while others are not? Recent work on this subject suggests that when factions fear that they will not benefit or will be excluded from a negotiated settlement these groups may protect their interests by sabotaging the peace process through violent tactics, including assassinations, massacres, and armed rebellions. We compare two on-going peace processes in Africa â€" the negotiations to end armed struggles in Western Sahara and in the Sudan â€" to investigate why spoilers arise in some contexts and not others. We argue that peace process exclusivity, that is negotiations between only some of the potential parties to a conflict, is more likely to breed violence than inclusive peace negotiations where all relevant groups have a seat at the bargaining table. This finding suggests that third parties that participate in peace negotiations may need to rethink the manner in which talks are conducted in order to reduce rates of violence and secure more lasting arrangements. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent report, the United Nations warned that the violence in Chad could turn into a genocide similar to that in Rwanda in 1994. The UNHCR says the killing tactics from neighboring Darfur in Sudan have crossed the border into eastern Chad. The fighting now threatens to become a full-scale civil war as locals are getting caught up in the violence. The most pressing concern now is how to prevent the spillover violence from escalating to become a civil war. What strategies, if any, can external parties utilize to abate tensions?In this paper, I expand on the civil war literature and examine the management of the transnationalization of violence. In particular, I look at the role played by external parties and assess the efficacy of strategies employed to contain civil wars or manage them once they spill across borders. I take the Darfur-Chad case as a starting point and study it in a comparative context to assess the causes of violence, analyze the trajectories of other transnationalized civil wars, and evaluate strategies to prevent or manage the escalation of the conflict. The purpose of this project is fourfold: first, to identify the origins and transformation of civil wars in Africa; second, to examine the factors that contribute to the politicization of ethnic identities; third, to evaluate ways that the transnationalization of civil war has been dealt with by regional and international institutions; and fourth, to develop strategies for how third party intervention may be used to assist in the management of civil wars that have or could become transnationalized. My research focuses on three cases in addition to Darfur-Chad: the spillover of violence from Rwanda into Burundi; the diffusion of conflict from Liberia into Sierra Leone; and the spread of war from northern Uganda into southern Sudan. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In December 2004, under the auspices of IGAD and the international community, a negotiated settlement was signed in Sudan, putting what is hoped to be an end to nearly two decades of fighting. The bitter struggle over Sudan?s cultural identity has nearly destroyed the country and threatened to destabilize the region as southern Sudanese fought against the Arabized north for an equal stake in the political system and an equitable share of the nation?s resources. While the Sudan case appears to be an example of successful third party intervention, it is difficult at this stage to determine whether the recent negotiation process will result in the implementation of peace in Sudan. The parties and the IGAD Partners Forum have too much invested in the process to abandon it, but the crisis in Darfur as well as tensions among civil society are threatening to derail the implementation of the agreement. In order for long-term peace to result, there are many obstacles that still must be overcome. If the agreement is strong enough, then there will be sufficient guarantees to see it through. What will be crucial in determining whether the peace holds, and an issue which has not been a significant enough focus of the intervention strategy, will be the efficacy of an enforcement measure. But, doubts remain that the Sudanese government is seriously committed to peace. Given the history of conflict that has plagued post-independence Sudan, it would not take much to breed a renewal of violence in the country.The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to systematically examine the strategic interaction between outside groups and local actors in negotiating peace; second, to conduct a detailed study of the challenges of implementing peace in a protracted conflict; and third, to consider the policy implications of my analysis for long-term peacebuilding in Sudan. My research draws on archival and primary source data, including interviews conducted in Kenya (the site of the negotiations) and Washington, D.C. with key participants in the negotiation and implementation processes. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing pervasiveness and salience of civil conflict has led to consideration among scholars and practitioners as to how to end intrastate violence and the problems it carries with it, including refugees, economic devastation, state failure, and regional instability. There is a growing awareness on the part of external parties that these conflicts need to be stopped or prevented, but international actors are often reluctant to get involved directly. Reluctance stems from norms of sovereignty as well as hesitation to devote resources to areas beyond the immediate scope of national geostrategic interests. After more than a decade of attempts at post-Cold War conflict prevention and management, there is still no successful formula for intervention in civil wars. A study of the conditions of successful third party intervention can have important policy implications, the most significant of which I argue is the primacy of regional and subregional intervention. In an attempt to address these policy implications, this paper focuses on the efforts that have been made and the work that still needs to be done to build capacity for regional conflict management.To focus my research, I center my analysis on recent developments of regional and subregional conflict management in Africa. I then consider the utility and limitations of these initiatives. Finally, I conclude by considering the implications of my study for international and regional intervention strategies and suggest possible directions for future research. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I conduct a detailed case study of negotiations in the Sudan to consider the interaction between various third party actors in conflict management and assess the policy implications of my analysis for conflict resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the Cold War, ethnic conflicts have emerged as the dominant form of contemporary political violence. As the levels of ethnically based persecution and discrimination have increased, the issue of intervention has become particularly salient in political discussion. The increased salience of ethnic conflicts has spawned a number of studies on the causes of, consequences from, and strategies for managing intrastate conflict (e.g. Licklider 1993; Gurr 1993; Horowitz 1985; Gurr and Harff 1994; Walter 1997; Collier 2000a and 2000b; and Regan 1996). Each of these works has made an essential contribution to the field of conflict resolution, yet they focus on intervention in civil wars (which include ethnic conflicts as a type of civil war). I expand on the existing literature and center my analysis specifically on the effects of third party peacebuilding on the resolution of ethnic conflicts. By doing so, I try to explain the variation in observed outcomes of intervention. This study contributes to our understanding of the effect of third parties on the likelihood of successful peacebuilding after ethnic war. This paper attempts to critically assess when and why intervention succeeds and when it fails in an effort to evaluate the efficacy of assertive third party peacebuilding. I define the success or failure of third party peacebuilding by the observed fact of escalation or renewed outbreak of violence after the intervention. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to systematically test the theory that assertive third party peacebuilding may have a limited impact on conflict resolution against 79 incidents of ethnic conflict from 1944-1999; second, to conduct a detailed case study of the conflict in Western Sahara to support the regression results with a detailed real-world example; and third, to examine the implications of my analysis for conflict resolution. The empirical and theoretical evidence suggest that while it may end ethnic violence, external peacebuilding does not resolve the causes of conflict and therefore does not diminish the likelihood that armed conflict will resume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to critically assess when and why preventive diplomacy succeeds and when it fails in an effort to develop a response-oriented framework that will address how the international response system can be redesigned so as to act quickly to prevent or limit the escalation of violent conflict. The pervasiveness of intra-state conflict has generated a number of studies on the causes of, consequences from, and strategies for managing intra-state conflict, and prescriptive essays on how third parties might successfully intervene to prevent the outbreak or escalation of violence (e.g. Jentleson 1998 and 2000; Lund 1996; Davies and Gurr 1998; Boutros-Ghali, 1992; Alker et al. 2001). Few studies, however, have systematically examined the conditions for successful preventive diplomacy. The present discussion will address these conditions in a manner that should: a) give a better understanding of when and why certain conflict prevention strategies succeed, and b) develop an integrated policy-operations framework that can be adapted to individual conflicts. I begin my analysis by defining the concept of preventive diplomacy in the post Cold War context; I then consider the relevant literature on intervention, and examine various types of preventive diplomacy with an emphasis on early warning systems. I next apply my analysis to a comparative study of conflicts in Somalia, Rwanda, and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa focusing on how preventive diplomacy failed to thwart bloodshed in the former two cases and succeeded in precluding the escalation of violence in the latter. I make causal inferences based on the case study evidence and posit that where conflict prevention worked, it was the result of informed analysis and understanding of the situation; where it failed, there was a lack of political will and an analytical framework. Based on this assessment, I conclude by proposing conditions that when present increase the likelihood of successful conflict prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]