ABSTRACT
Mediation is a consent-based form of non-binding, third-party conflict management. By requiring consent among the conflicting parties, mediation shares similarities with bilateral negotiations; the disputants choose when to hold talks, how long to participate, and whether to reach agreement. Sanctions are a non-consent-based, coercive conflict management tool, in which an actor imposes economic costs on a target to encourage that target to change an existing policy or yield to a demand. Thus, there are two actor groups: senders (i.e., the sanctioner) and receivers (i.e., the targets). On occasion, disputants relinquish full control over their dispute’s outcome to a third party. This typically occurs when disputants feel they have exhausted other diplomatic options and cannot successfully use force to achieve their goal. Continued bilateral negotiations therefore seem futile, and the assistance of mediators – even when accompanied by rewards or punishments – lack the ability to generate the concessions needed to reach a resolution.
