Search results

1 – 10 of over 23000
Article
Publication date: 1 April 1993

Jacob Bercovitch and Allison Houston

This article analyzes two of the determinants of the effectiveness of the mediation process, namely the impact of different mediators and mediation behavior on mediation outcomes…

2118

Abstract

This article analyzes two of the determinants of the effectiveness of the mediation process, namely the impact of different mediators and mediation behavior on mediation outcomes in international relations. We review the literature and consider this relationship in terms of specific hypotheses concerning (1) the identity of a mediator, (2) previous interactions with the parties, (3) previous mediation attempts, and (4) the nature of mediation strategy. An original data set of 97 international disputes and 364 mediation attempts in the post‐1945 period is utilized to test our hypotheses. Multivariate analysis suggests the significance of high mediator rank, directive strategy, and close political alignment in achieving successful outcomes. We use these results to posit and test a series of causal models of mediation.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Sinisa Vukovic

This paper aims to provide a structured overview of the most important research conducted in the field of international mediation. Although there are still strong similarities…

5689

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a structured overview of the most important research conducted in the field of international mediation. Although there are still strong similarities between the processes of international and domestic mediation, lack of a clear structure on the international level suggests that international mediation activities could be separately academically scrutinized. This literature review is aimed at illustrating the unique nature of international mediation.

Design/methodology/approach

Various factors that affect the overall process and the outcome of international mediation efforts were clustered in four distinct yet interrelated groups. The first section illustrates various mediators' characteristics that might induce the disputants to accept mediation and agree to specific terms that were mediated in the process. In the second section two distinct factors affecting the mediation outcome were explained: contextual and behavioral. Finally, in the third sections various types of mediators were discussed.

Findings

The article shows the intricate complexities of international mediation, highlighting four distinct features that might have an effect on the mediation outcome: mediator's characteristics, contextual features, behavioral factors, and types of mediators.

Originality/value

This article attempts to offer a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in international mediation, and suggests potential areas of future research.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Allard Duursma

A rapidly expanding body of literature on international mediation, as well as the central role international mediation plays in modern-day conflict resolution, make it necessary…

3977

Abstract

Purpose

A rapidly expanding body of literature on international mediation, as well as the central role international mediation plays in modern-day conflict resolution, make it necessary to review and analyze this vastly evolving field of study. This study seeks to review the most significant trends and debates in the literature on international mediation, with an emphasis on the literature of the past six years.

Design/methodology/approach

Reflecting Wall et al.'s staged conceptualization of the mediation process; this review essay is divided in three sections that cover the antecedents of mediation, possible mediation approaches, and the outcomes these approaches yield – making it possible to review and analyze the diverse sets of theories within the field of mediation, as well the various methodological approaches employed to test these theories.

Findings

Much research to date has focused on how international mediation in armed conflicts affects the likelihood of reaching a negotiated agreement, while other possible outcomes of mediation have been understudied. Accordingly, research needs to be done on the effects of mediation attempts that did not lead to a peace agreement, as well as the accumulative effect of peace agreements. Furthermore, the relation between negative peace and mediation has been studied extensively, but how mediation affects the degree of positive peace has received scant scholarly attention. Finally, the interlinkages between the different phases of the mediation process need to be examined more extensively.

Originality/value

This review identifies the state of the art knowledge concerning the international mediation process, which allows peacemakers to make informed decisions in order to prevent and resolve armed conflict in the twenty-first century.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Aran Martin

Success and failure in mediation are widely understood to determine whether a state will receive positive or negative reputation outcomes from undertaking a mediation role in an…

Abstract

Purpose

Success and failure in mediation are widely understood to determine whether a state will receive positive or negative reputation outcomes from undertaking a mediation role in an international conflict. Research from mediation in domestic settings contradicts this view, finding that peer mediators in school and community settings received positive mediator outcomes from undertaking their role, even when they failed to facilitate an agreement between disputants. This paper aims to test this assumption and argues that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with observable reputation outcomes for mediating states and proposes an alternative explanatory framework.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypothesis was inductively generated through a comparative analysis of single-state mediation attempts selected from the Uppsala Conflict Database Project MILC data set. The cases selected were South Africa’s mediation attempts in Côte d’Ivoire from 2004 to 2005 and Comoros from 2003 to 2004, and Mexico’s mediation attempts in Colombia (National Liberation Army) in 2004 and Guatemala (Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity) between 1994 and 1996. To contextualise the findings and develop the explanatory framework, South African mediation attempts in Burundi and the DRC are discussed in the closing sections of the paper.

Findings

This paper finds that mediation success and failure are only weakly correlated with mediator outcomes. Mediator outcomes are explained by the activity level of the mediating state in providing mediation services; the positive intention of the mediator to assist in resolving the conflict; the scale of the conflict mediated; the severity of spill over effects from the conflict in question; the regional importance of the conflict; the proximity of the government which a mediating state looks to develop relations with to the conflict; the importance of the mediation attempt within the peace process; the level of contestation of the mediation attempt, meaning the extent to which mediation attempts are themselves sites of regional or global international power politics; and the success or failure of the mediation attempt.

Originality/value

An explanatory framework for state mediator outcomes in which the outcome of a mediation attempt for the third-party state is not determined solely, or even primarily, by mediation success or failure bridges mediation research applying to international and domestic issue areas and provides additional information for policy makers regarding the costs and benefits of committing their state to processes of mediation in conflicts with low probabilities of resolution. This is particularly important for state policy makers, given that mediation is successful on average in only one out of every three attempts.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2022

Aoyuan Zhang and Haixia Qi

This study aims to explore the factors whereby some international organizations (IOs) are more effective than others in international mediation and proposes three types of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the factors whereby some international organizations (IOs) are more effective than others in international mediation and proposes three types of hypotheses through combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. First, IOs with greater institutional capabilities for gathering, exchanging and disseminating conflict-related information are more likely to mediate effectively. IO bias is another factor of influence in this regard. Second, IOs with greater institutional capabilities for deploying field missions and guaranteeing agreement are more likely to mediate effectively and maintain durable peace. Third, IOs with higher amounts of leverage are more likely to mediate effectively.

Design/methodology/approach

The study establishes two data sets: one on interstate conflict; the other on intrastate conflict, thus to cover as many research samples as possible and avoid sampling bias.

Findings

Results of the statistical analysis indicate that no matter interstate or intrastate conflict, IOs with higher institutional capabilities for diplomatic interventions are more likely to bring conflict parties to an agreement and thereafter maintain short-term peace. IOs with higher institutional capabilities for economic sanctions are similarly effective. Furthermore, IOs with greater institutional capabilities for field mission deployment mediate more effectively, whether in facilitating peace agreements or maintaining short-term and long-term peace after the agreement. IO bias and preference, however, have no significant impact on mediation effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications

This study has made no in-depth explorations of such existing and important research areas as different third-party comparisons of the mediation effect.

Practical implications

This paper attempts to make some contributions to the topic of mediation effectiveness through applying a bargaining model to the research and performing a statistical analysis based on both an interstate conflict data set and an intrastate conflict data set.

Originality/value

This paper provides an in-depth causal analysis and thoroughgoing comparison of the effectiveness of IOs in both interstate conflicts and intrastate conflicts.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1994

Jill M. Purdy and Barbara Gray

This study evaluates an attempt to develop a mediation program within a state environmental agency. A number of concerns arose during the agency's efforts to use mediation…

Abstract

This study evaluates an attempt to develop a mediation program within a state environmental agency. A number of concerns arose during the agency's efforts to use mediation, including the neutrality of mediators, the types of cases mediated, the voluntary participation of parties, and acceptance of the mediated agreement. These issues were examined through a case study of a conflict that was mediated by the agency. Based on issues in the case, criteria are suggested which help guard against the problems that arise when government agencies serve a mediating role. These criteria may be useful to any organization that contemplates using mediation to help resolve conflict.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2023

Laurie Nathan and Joel M. Devonshire

This paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to critique the rationalist theoretical framework of international mediation, which ignores emotions in analyzing the decision by conflict parties to pursue a negotiated settlement or continue fighting, and to present an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on psychology research on emotions and conflict to develop an emotionally informed framework for analyzing conflict parties’ decision-making regarding a settlement. It demonstrates the framework’s validity and value through a case study of the 2000 Camp David mediation to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Findings

A rationalist approach to mediation does not have adequate explanatory and predictive power theoretically. In practice, it can reduce the prospect of success.

Research limitations/implications

The paper highlights the necessity for mediation researchers to study the effects of emotion, draw on psychology studies on conflict and explore the emotional implications of different mediation strategies and tactics.

Practical implications

The framework highlights the challenge of designing and conducting mediation in a way that cultivates emotions favorable to a settlement and lessens emotions unfavorable to a settlement.

Originality/value

This is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to critique the rationalist framework of international mediation studies and develop an alternative framework that integrates emotions.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Hong-Youl Ha, Jang-Gyem Kim and Yongkyun Chung

The purpose of this paper is to select the best model among alternative models explaining the relationship maintenance in mediation.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to select the best model among alternative models explaining the relationship maintenance in mediation.

Design/methodology/approach

Four alternative models are employed in order to select best fit model through the test of each construct using Korean and Indonesian firm data.

Findings

The settlement model out of four alternative models is the best fit model in both Korea and Indonesia. The nexus of experience-settlement is not similar between Korea and Indonesia. The nexus of cost-saving-settlement is similar between two countries.

Practical implications

The field manager and policy maker get useful information from the findings. In particular, Korea and Indonesia belong to different cultural clusters.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the mediation literature through the suggestion of hypothesized model of relationship maintenance intention in mediation.

Details

Journal of Korea Trade, vol. 21 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1229-828X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 September 2023

Michael J. Butler

Conventional wisdom tells us that mediation without ripeness is a fool’s errand (Zartman and Touval, 1985). What, then, is Türkiye’s motivation for mediating the war in Ukraine in…

Abstract

Purpose

Conventional wisdom tells us that mediation without ripeness is a fool’s errand (Zartman and Touval, 1985). What, then, is Türkiye’s motivation for mediating the war in Ukraine in lieu of ripeness – and what can its behavior as a mediator tell us about that motivation? In pursuit of this question, this paper inductively analyzes Turkish mediation in the Ukraine war to unpack the relationship between a contextual (ripeness) and actor-level (motivation) variable. Of particular interest is the decision-making and behavior of third parties (like Türkiye in Ukraine) who elect to mediate highly complex conflicts in which ripeness is indiscernible. The purpose of this research is not to propose or test a causal relationship between obscured ripeness and mediation, but rather to examine mediation behavior in situations where ripeness is obscured.

Design/methodology/approach

The impact of weaponized information on ripeness and third-party mediation is evaluated through an original, systematic and inductive case study analysis of Turkish mediation in the Russia–Ukraine war. As an intense theater of operations for information warfare for well over a decade, the war in Ukraine serves as an especially apt choice for an analysis of “obscured ripeness.” Likewise, Türkiye’s anomalous position as the only substantive source of mediation in the conflict lends significance to an empirical examination of its motivation and behavior as a mediator.

Findings

This research reveals that the pervasive use of weaponized information in the Russia–Ukraine war has distorted and disordered the information environment, thereby obscuring the ability of third parties to determine if the conflict is or could be ripe for mediation. However, the condition of obscured ripeness that prevails in the conflict has not proven a deterrent for mediation by Türkiye, which, as the only mediator in the conflict, has used a transactional approach to mediation motivated by self-regarding interests and animated by a manipulative mediation strategy. In sum, this inductive analysis of Turkish mediation in Ukraine reveals that the use of weaponized information in a conflict indirectly selects on transactional mediation (and mediators). The significance of this finding is magnified by the widespread use of weaponized information in contemporary conflicts as well as the declining frequency of third-party mediation.

Originality/value

There have been few, if any, systematic assessments in Turkish mediation of the Russia–Ukraine war, and none specifically concerned with the effects of weaponized information. Additionally, the paper proposes a typology of mediator motivation that is used to structure that assessment, while also introducing a new concept (“obscured ripeness”) and linking that concept both to the existing literature on ripeness and to the use of weaponized information in contemporary armed conflicts. As such, this manuscript represents an important contribution both to the empirical and theoretical landscape with respect to the study of mediation and international conflict management.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 May 2023

Sara Hellmüller and Bilal Salaymeh

This paper aims to study recent approaches to peacemaking, particularly by Turkey and Russia, in a changing world and their implications for UN-led peace processes. The authors…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study recent approaches to peacemaking, particularly by Turkey and Russia, in a changing world and their implications for UN-led peace processes. The authors analyze the factors that allow parallel processes to UN mediation to emerge and discuss their influence.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents two in-depth case studies of mediation in Syria and Libya, where the UN, as well as Russia and Turkey, were actively involved in peacemaking.

Findings

The authors find that parallel processes to UN mediation emerge if the UN process does not show progress toward a negotiated settlement and other third parties have leverage over the conflict parties. However, whether these parallel processes pose a fundamental challenge to the UN-led process depends on how sustained the third parties’ leverage over the conflict parties is. If it lasts, it puts the UN in a difficult position to either participate in the parallel process and contain it but thereby also legitimizing it, or to abstain from participating but thereby risking to lose control over the mediation process.

Research limitations/implications

Analyzing different approaches to mediation helps to better understand current dynamics of multiparty mediation, including an increased questioning of the effectiveness of UN mediation, and provides insights on how the UN may adapt to keep its relevance in a changing world.

Originality/value

The paper is based on original first-hand data gathered between 2018 and 2022 through more than 50 interviews with UN officials, negotiation team members, political and civil society actors from Syria and Libya, (former) state officials and experts from Russia and Turkey, as well as external observers.

Details

International Journal of Conflict Management, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1044-4068

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 23000