The Role of International Community Professor IJI Tetsuro JUNG Due-date: January 28th – January 30th What roles can the international community play in terminating violent conflicts in today’s world? Please discuss various approaches to the prevention, management and resolution of such conflicts, focusing on what kinds of opportunities and problems external actors might encounter in their interventions. Also where appropriate, it would be helpful to illustrate your discussion of actual conflicts of your choice.Introduction International community is an international relation that applies to all governments, culture, and people. It is a phrase to imply liabilities and responsibilities among governments, civilians, cultures, etc.
In order to keep, build, and make these duties, there are few organizations such as United Nations, Non-Governmental Organization, Inter-Governmental Organization, NATO, APEC, ASEAN, and so on. Most of these organizations are related to economic areas in communal society’s common duties.From these organizations, United Nations is most related organization to violent conflicts in today’s world which is called UNPKO (United Nations Peace-Keeping Organization). United Nations’ job is to cooperate in many areas between countries and to cooperate for achievement of world peace. Basically, UN takes a big part of possession to prevent, manage, and resolve world’s conflicts in international community. Also, United States had been a part of effect for conflict resolutions.
Thus, global parties are giving lots of effort in order to resolve an escalation toward war.They also try to hold many meetings and conferences to discuss world’s conflicts and contradictions. In the history, not only there were lot of successful actions, but also there were lot of failure to keep, make, and build peace. United Nations and international community are going through many difficulties to resolve such problems easily because it is tough to make right decisions in conflicts. Also it is difficult because the word ‘ethics’, which applies to conflict, does not have one answer.
Even if there is one right answer, it is hard to fit all the opinions or votes among international community.Even in current world, it is still difficult for global units to step into the conflicts for peace. Among these difficult situations, there are two key features that can help global communal associations and organizations to bring peace. The roles that international community can play in terminating violent conflicts in today’s world are communication and intervention. Communication Communication might be too broad to be one of the key features to solve conflicts in today’s world. It is not only about conversation, but also about recognition and negotiation.
Communication and negotiation can be as if to say ‘weapon’ to terminate violent conflicts. Looking back to history, there were some cases that succeeded by the use of this ‘weapon’ to prevent, manage, terminate, or at least normalize the situation. Nevertheless in most cases, communication and negotiation are not easily done between the actual units related to the conflict. This ‘weapon’ is one of the skills that can be used to de-escalate the issue. One brief example about resolution can be Cold War. This war was held right after World War II ended.
It was from 1945 to 1991 and the belligerents were mainly United States and Soviet Union.It was named Cold War because two powerful countries possessed nuclear weapons and threatened each other without any military or physical combat. It began because of disagreement between two governmental policies each country distinctly pursued which were capitalism and communism. After many conflicts between capitalism and communism, United States and USSR agreed on a strategy called mutually assured destruction which simply is an agreement saying it will be unnecessary to make massive destruction by two opposing sides. This might have led to another world war or nuclear war because it was a war between two allies.
However, two superpowers noticed that rather than fighting for which governmental policy is right, they should prevent the diffusion of researching and developing nuclear weapons in other countries. Also, they were both tired of losing troops and plus wasting money. Communication and negotiation seemed to work between United States and Soviet Union. Not to say everything worked out peacefully, but to say it worked for two superpowers. Among conflicts of ‘capitalism party’ and ‘communism party’, some countries are still in ceasefire, some in the process of agreement, some normalized, and some already reconciled by ending the conflict.
Seems to be harsh, but still it is clearly showing the process of conflict de-escalation. This shows that end of Cold War was possible from the first step of agreement with communications and negotiations. Communication is a highly preferable duty that international community can do in one side and it is still believed to be a one of the greatest solutions for currently existing violent conflicts. Jacque Seguela, a political advisor involved in high profiled political campaign in France and abroad, said “I prefer communication wars than actual deadly wars.
Those information wars may kill a few ideas here and there, but it can't kill a person. As time goes by, communication will increasingly be an important part of war. It starts before an actual war and it can also prevent it. (rt.
com)” As Jacque mentioned in the interview, communication is highly preferable choice to prevent, manage, and resolve for such wars. Currently, Syria civil war is devastating news that international community and organizations, especially UN, are putting effort to. Syria civil war started since March, 2011, with split of opinion between civilians’ and government’s idea.It has actually gone to the point of violence in conflict escalation.
Before Syria civil war turns into an actual war, communication and negotiation between government and civilians is believed to be the key feature for resolution. Like Cold War, in this case government should recognize how useless this conflict is and should listen to the people for negotiation rather than killing the rebels and refugees. One way can be leaders of the government and the leaders of rebels having conferences for negotiation and communications. However, communication can also contain risks.By looking at the history of Cold War, communication worked out only between the main oppositions. Also by this mutual conflict, many other countries were affected and eventually formed another internal crash such as Korea, Germany, Vietnam, countries in Latin America, Afghanistan, etc.
It was war for countries to choose either side. In Syria’s case, this negotiation and communication might cause another conflict with surrounding neighbors. If one of the other neighborhoods who support the government side does not like the result of negotiation such as religious policies, they might get involved and eventually form another war.Above these both sides of views, historians and politicians still believe that communicating between two oppositions is one of the greatest ways to de-escalate from conflicts. Intervention Another key feature that international community can do for termination of today’s conflict can be intervention of the third party.
In the history, there were many successful cases by an intervention of the third party. Many researchers and historians have different opinions and analysis. However, there are examples in the history showing that intervention is one of the key features to terminate, prevent, manage, and resolve current conflicts.One good example can be Bosnian civil wars. This war was held from 1992 to 1995, which was after the breakup of Yugoslavia.
It was a conflict among Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian. After the First World War ended, Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Croatia were united under the control of Josip Tito. It was difficult at the first time but Tito was able to harmonize them and it worked. However, after the death of Tito, Bosnia raised their voice for independence. Serbians were unhappy with Bosnian’s action and eventually led into a war.
War ended up becoming violent but United States threatened Bosnian Serbs without military actions. However, after Bosnian Serbs have done few “ethnic cleansing,” United States started to take this seriously. United States and NATO started to give physical threats to Bosnian Serbs and made them to withdraw all the heavy weapons. After the action of air-force threats, President Clinton sent Richard Holbrooke, who used to be chief US peace envoy, to become a middleman to resolve the conflict.
The conflict started to de-escalate from the point of war and ended up each party to gain independence.This coordinated military and political intervention can be considered as successful intervention. Even though it is still mysterious action why United States was interested in this conflict, it has achieved the objective of United States and NATO which was to end this war. Although there are some limits of hope for Bosnia to get rid of the multi-ethnic political party that brings various kinds of conflicts, the international community is still putting their effort to resolve stiff political policies that brings unnecessary results. Intervention is one of the partial actions that can be done for conflicts.
As written in the article called “Give War a Chance,” by Edward N. Luttwak, war is excessively difficult to come up with one answer because any kind of decision can have objection. Also, intervention between belligerents is difficult action to make because it might prolong the war and eventually worsen the case. However, by looking at few examples such as Bosnian War, intervention might be needed for both humanity and ethics before war become even more violent. Looking at the current situation in Syria, United Nations held several conferences for intervention for peace.
However, the process of UN’s action on conflicts has procedures. If more than one country disagrees on the discussion, it cannot be progressed. If UN or international community intervenes in Syria War with strategies, it can have better results than just letting them suffer each other. Like Bosnian War, UN or third party will have to help one side not to prolong the duration of the conflict, but to bring peace with proper findings. Edward Luttwak said helping the stronger side might finish war faster but this is not an ethical choice.
Intervention in conflicts needs timing in order to bring peace rather than just bringing war to an end rapidly. Also, third party's job is not only to bring peace, but also to help innocent civilians. In Syria, refugees are having trouble. About 15,000 civilians went across the border lines because of civil war. In this case, troops of United Nations are not for intervention but to help the refugees and innocent people to be safe. On the other hand, there are historians and politicians saying that intervention only prolongs the duration of wars.
Interventions do have risks to exacerbate the case and form another conflict such as Iraq War. However, many researchers proclaim that it does not actually exacerbate the war but might prolong the duration of the conflict. Intervention is to bring peace with reasonable consequences, not the duration of the conflict. Conclusion The term 'terminate' for violent conflict is in fact too drastic.
Terminating violence has been almost impossible over the decades. Rather than 'terminating' the conflict, international community should put effort to prevent, manage, and resolve the today's conflict.Based on the examples from the history, it seems successful roles and skills that international community can play to prevent, manage, and resolve today's conflict. However, these roles are not always successfully done.
In some cases such as Libya, Egypt, Iraq, etc. brought devastating results. Although communication and intervention are the key features to resolve warfare, it is difficult to be done smoothly without any problems and forces. The objections are proclaimed by many historians, politicians, and researchers that there is high possibility in interventions that it can prolong the duration of wars.Nevertheless, it is not possible to conclude this discussion in a rash because these are two of few roles that can be played by international community for today’s conflict. Like always, today’s world is suffering from many violent conflicts such as genocide and civil wars.
Syria, Libya, Lebanon, Sudan, and many countries are advised to figure things out rather than being pitted against each other. International community is an international relation that applies to all governments, culture, and people. Even if these severe happenings are difficult to be resolved by other nations, this is not a small thing that should be ignored.Rather than making excuses made by own benefits and risks that might be happen, it is totally advised for international community and organizations to be a part of this severe situations to prevent, manage, and resolve the problems. International conflict resolution is not multiple choice problems. It is one that the world must be part of in order to shape our own peaceful society.
