Contemporary Conflict Resolution

Since the end of the Cold War, conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and peacebuilding have risen to the top of the international agenda. The third edition of this hugely popular text explains the key concepts, charts the development of the field, evaluates successes and failures, and assesses the main current challenges and debates in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Existing material has been thoroughly updated and seven new chapters added, on conflict resolution in a changing international order; environmental conflict resolution; conflict resolution in the arts and popular culture; conflict resolution, the media and the communications revolution; managing radical disagreement in intractable conflict; theories and critiques of the field; and upcoming challenges and tasks for the next generation. The authors argue that a new form of cosmopolitan conflict resolution is emerging, which offers a hopeful means for human societies to handle their conflicts non-violently and eventually to transcend and celebrate their differences.

Part I offers a comprehensive survey of the theory and practice of conflict resolution. Part II sets the field within the context of rapid global change and addresses the controversies that have surrounded conflict resolution as it has entered the mainstream. Contemporary Conflict Resolution is essential reading for students of peace and security studies, conflict management and international politics, as well as for those working in non-governmental organizations and think-tanks.