ABSTRACT
This analysis is the result of conversations between the two of us in which we tried to bring together our respective writing and thinking on dealing with international ethno-political conflict. Sean's work with Neal Carter on the six forces in ethno-territorial conflicts identified the social factors — objective and subjective — that need to be addressed in building a constructive peace. Loraleigh's work with Ronald J. Fisher on a contingency model of third-party intervention in such conflicts is also premised on the notion of objective and subjective elements in conflicts as cues to stages of escalation and, thus, the selection and coordination of appropriate and varied interventions. 2 In essence, Byrne and Carter draw our attention to the need to address a broad range of forces and thus, increase the range of what we consider ‘intervention’ while Fisher and Keashly highlight the value and necessity of coordinated and complementary ‘intervention’ efforts required to deal with these factors in a comprehensive manner. Merging these two perspectives focuses attention on recognizing that protracted inter-communal conflicts develop and are sustained through the complex and continuous interaction of a number of factors, ranging from economic to historical to sociological to psychocultural to political. Consequently, a multiplicity of intervention efforts must run simultaneously and sometimes sequentially at all levels to de-escalate the conflict through all of the stages of escalation and to transform the underlying nature of conflict over time.
