MANAGEMENT OF ISSUES AND RELATIONSHIPS DURING INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: OR HOW (NOT?) TO END A WAR

Abstract

The goal of this essay is to examine the conflict resolution activities during political diplomacy as a dynamic and interactive process. In an application of Relational Order Theory (Donohue, 1998), this essay employs a model highlighting the instrumental, relational, and identity‐based issues involved in conflict resolution. To illustrate the utility of this model of Relational Process Management, this essay examines the process of diplomacy leading to the Dayton Accords in the areas of the Former Yugoslavia. For years the international community's efforts at intervention in this conflict were quite meager, as ceasefires and peace plans were brokered and dissolved with some regularity. Ultimately, a final coordinated effort by multiple external parties finally brought the combatants to the table in Dayton, Ohio to negotiate a formal agreement. The complex process by which the parties came to the negotiating table provides a rich case study by which to explore the interactive processes of diplomacy. An examination of the events in this case through the lens of instrumental, relational, and identity‐bound issues culminates with lessons learned from this interactionally‐based analysis of international conflict.

Citation

Hoobler, G. (2003), "MANAGEMENT OF ISSUES AND RELATIONSHIPS DURING INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: OR HOW (NOT?) TO END A WAR", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 14 No. 3/4, pp. 297-317. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb022903