ABSTRACT
In common parlance the term ‘conflict’ connotes a dispute in which two or more parties are involved who are seeking to pursue goals that are (or, are perceived to be) incompatible by resorting to violence, if necessary. Defined in this sense, a conflict situation implies use of physical violence. However, of the three different types of conflicts – ‘fights’, ‘games’ and ‘debates’ – not all involve physical violence. Since conflicts are endemic to human societies, it is not possible to eliminate them altogether. Nor are all conflicts zero-sum games where one party achieves its goal by totally defeating/eliminating the other. Attempts should, therefore, be made to understand the roots of conflict so that the intensity of conflicts may be reduced through a policy of ‘conflict management’ of conflicts thus paving the way for their final resolution. In contemporary international relations most of the protracted conflicts are not binary; a key to their understanding may be provided by the concept of ‘Conflict Clusters’ having multiple dimensions, making their resolution that much more difficult.
An attempt has been made here to analyse the root causes of three protracted conflicts in South Asia and to suggest ways and means of resolving the same.
