From Civil War to Civil Peace: Multi-Track Solutions to Armed Conflict

Abstract

The genocide in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, violence and famine in Somalia, and a resurgence of vicious fighting in Liberia are just a selection of events which mark the first half of the 1990s, and will be remembered as indications of the international community’s and the United Nations’ incapacity to manage crises. They were all intra-state conflicts of the most brutal kind, which flickered on television screens world wide, arousing guilt, anger, incomprehension, sadness and generosity. Humanitarian aid flowed in, but it was not enough. The causes of these conflicts are deep-rooted and long term, leaving many observers thinking there is nothing more that can be done. Robert Kaplan expressed this attitude in his highly controversial essay, The Coming Anarchy,¹ about internal conflicts and environmental and political upheaval. He not only predicted an apocalyptic end to Africa which is ‘set to go over the edge’ but also environmental and political breakdown spreading to other theatres: the ‘West African coast, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, China and Central America’.