ABSTRACT
International crises are dangerous episodes that can be destabilizing not only to the actors directly involved but to the entire international system. Crises can present overwhelming challenges to established institutions and belief systems and can change forever the distribution of power within the international community or in a regional subsystem. Recognizing the primacy of crises as defining moments in international relations, scholars and policy makers alike are increasingly concerned with identifying mechanisms for crisis prevention, management, and resolution. In this book, we investigate one such mechanism – mediation by a third party – to determine whether it is an effective means of mitigating, or at least managing, the all-too-often turbulent and violent consequences of crises.
