Introduction

One of the major challenges in Latin America, as well as in other Third World regions, has been to control the escalation of conflicts with the existing procedural institutions and political organization. The Organization of American States, under the tutelage of the United States, has aspired to provide a forum and mechanism for the peaceful settlement of disputes between Latin American countries. Clarification of the kinds and number of Latin American conflicts is therefore a pressing need. Most Latin American conflicts exhibit several elements of the typology, and the mix changes for each one of the individual parties over a period of time. Changes in the nature of Latin American conflicts therefore augur ill for peaceful resolution. Legal solutions appear more appropriate for traditional territorial/border conflicts than for contemporary multi-causal, overlapping conflicts. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.