ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on complex contexts of protracted political conflicts involving intergroup involuntary and asymmetric encounters between diverse parties.
It addresses the queries: What is the nature of involvement of third parties in such conflicts—mediation, building consensus, intergroup facilitation, social advocacy? What mechanisms underlie third parties’ actions?
This chapter presents a model portraying third party's involvement in daily discords in the context of protracted and asymmetric political conflict and briefly illustrate its implementation through a case study.
This chapter concludes with unresolved queries regarding long-term gains of third-party involvement: Are its efforts fruitful in enhancing the protagonists’ capacities to engage the paradoxical reality, developing a multifocal lens on intergroup relations, expanding their capabilities to collaborate with the adversary despite of the macro-level impediments, and foster the capacity of the parties to express genuine voices and concerns? The author also pledges to continue research further exploring these questions.
