ABSTRACT
Following the end of the Cold War, fundamental changes in the nature of the international system have ushered in a new thinking with respect to traditional approaches to confl ict resolution (Saunders 1999, p. 7). One cause of the change was identifi ed as the strengthening of the internationalisation of international relations and the recognition of a duty of the international community to maintain international peace and thus secure the elementary security of individuals (Bigo 2003, p. 185). Yet, the promise of world peace in 1989 never materialised. Instead, the number of increasingly internal, violent confl icts around the world soared, where the majority of victims were civilian and where identity confl icts and poverty became a common feature (Gurr 2002; Fleitz Jr 2002, p. 16).
