Third party decision-making in response to conflict

Abstract

Abstract taken from Aslib Index to theses: vol 38, part 2, p. 623

It is argued that the involvement of an interested third party as intermediary is best analysed by considering the third party as forming part of (at least) a three-cornered negotiation system, with the third party being one of the negotiators

Application of the analytic framework to the case-study has also pointed to indicators which may improve the framework and has raised a number of questions regarding intermediary involvement in conflict

The devised analytic framework points to factors which may influence third party decisions at each of these three phases of third party responses to conflict. The application of the analytic framework to the Western Contact Group suggested that, apart from the dynamics of the conflict itself, other factors influencing third party decisions include the third party's interests in the conflict and in the process of mediation, its resources, and, at times, its constituency. The use of the Western Contact Group has also shown that the coalition factor is important in that it influenced the initial decision of the member governments to take up an active role in the Namibian dispute. It has also shown that the relationships within the coalition influenced the choice of tactics in interaction with the conflict system