International Conflict Resolution Research Paper

International Conflict Resolution - Research Paper Example Ethnic conflict threatened the territorial integrity of countries throughout the world including Somalia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Liberia in Africa; Bosnia and Kosovo in Eastern Europe; state-sponsored ethnic cleansing in East Timor in Asia and extreme violence on the North American island nation of Haiti. Although ethnic conflict and humanitarian crises have existed since the dawn of time, for the first time ever images of extreme bloodshed, violence, and even genocide were broadcast into the homes of everyday Americans through international television stations like the Cable News Network (CNN), Fox and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Despite shocking violence perpetrated by a variety of militia forces in the Western African countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia, the international community, by and large, stood still while extreme violence and crimes against humanity were carried out with seeming impunity. While it is evident that conflict has been endemic in the modern post-Cold War world, how has conflict been resolved in recent times? There are a variety of theories to international conflict resolution including peacebuilding, peacekeeping, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. This essay will discuss each theoretical paradigm and will persuasively show that peacebuilding and peacekeeping go hand in hand and that they are the most viable means through which global conflict can be managed and averted. We will explore the case of Sierra Leone and argue that it emphatically demonstrates that international actors must work to maintain the peace in societies which have experienced incredible violence and social collapse and that both peacekeeping and peacebuilding must take place in order to heal old wounds and ensure that conflict does not reemerge. Alternative Dispute Resolution is a third-party resolution process whereby mediation is undertaken by an external party to help resolve the c onflict.