Abstract
This chapter examines models, issues and cases that can help to explain the nature and utility of negotiation approaches as preventive mechanisms in potential transboundary environmental conflict situations. It examines the various schools of thought that seek to explain the relationship between environmental problems and conflict. These models identify factors that are hypothesized to have the greatest impact on the emergence of conflict and, thus, how, when and where negotiation mechanisms might be used to best advantage to prevent the conflict from emerging. The chapter also turns to the preconditions for and processes of preventive negotiation — a reframing of the stakes, attitudes and tactics for preemptive problem-solving. The study examines various cases where negotiations were used to prevent the emergence of conflict concerning transboundary environmental problems. Various approaches to negotiation are addressed and their effect on early resolution of potential conflicts evaluated.
This paper was written, in part, under a grant from the United States National Defense University (Contract No. DADW49-97-M-0321). The author also gratefully acknowledges the support of the U.S. Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Environmental Security) and the NATO CCMS (Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society) Pilot Study on Environment and Security in the International Context of which he is a participant. The opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views of the National Defense University, the Department of Defense, the US Government or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. An earlier version of this paper was published in I. William Zartman (ed.) 2000: Preventive Negotiation: Avoiding Escalation, 205-240. Carnegie Commission Series. Washington, DC: Rowman and Littlefield. (Permission by the publisher to reprint this paper has been gratefully granted.)
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Spector, B.I. (2001). Negotiations to Avert Transboundary Environmental Security Conflicts. In: Petzold-Bradley, E., Carius, A., Vincze, A. (eds) Responding to Environmental Conflicts: Implications for Theory and Practice. NATO Science Series, vol 78. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0395-7_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0395-7_3
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