ABSTRACT
Conflict prevention and conflict management both require a clear understanding of the possible sources and types of conflict which have become an increasingly pressing concern of the international community. Since the end of bipolarity, the international community has not only had to deal with an increasing number and a large variety of conflicts. The complexity of Southern Africa's problems makes co-operation between institutions imperative. The specifics of present-day conflicts in Southern Africa clearly have repercussions on the methods to be applied in efforts at conflict management. One way of managing conflicts has been the application of traditional methods of dispute settlement, such as mediation between the conflicting parties, irrespective of whether the conflict is international. With the end of the East-West conflict, Southern Africa has lost much of the strategic significance it had acquired during the Cold War. Regional conflict management will remain an integral part of the global endeavours.
