ABSTRACT
Evolving events in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa provide vivid examples of trends and processes that have been tracked by Peace and Conflict authors for a number of years. This chapter analyzes the application of international conflict prevention and crisis management techniques to civil wars and other instability events. Pelin Eralp, David Quinn, and Jonathan Wilkenfeld argue, in "Delivering Peace: Options for Mediators in African Intrastate Crises," that international and/or regional actors and organizations should be prepared to mediate in response to conflicts between existing or transitional governments on the one side and protest movements or rebel groups on the other. In cases where governments and armed opposition organizations are engaged in full-scale hostilities—as in Libya—mediators can aim to arrange for security guarantees that help deescalate tensions, check additional violence, and pave the way for negotiations.
