ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the way international conflict resolution expertise is produced and integrated into conflict resolution, or at least attempts at it. It shows that the world is full of holes, that the makers and users of intelligence are imperfect and riddled with not-so-original sin, and that innocence and malevolence are in the viewer's eye. There are three sides to this story, as anywhere: demand, supply, and improvement. There is nothing particularly Global South about these analyses, except that many of the current conflicts appear there. Like any demanders, they seek to meet their own needs most efficiently in their own terms, written in their own language, and hanging on two poles: either time-honored wisdom or a new insight through new methodology.