ABSTRACT
Politicalscientistsandpractitionersaliketraditionallyconsiderconflictprevention anelusiveconcept,mainlyduetoitscounterfactualnature.Theobjectivedifficultyto defineitsatisfactorilyatatheoreticallevel,coupledwiththeproblemofprovidinga tangibleempiricalprojection,hasinducedsomemainstreamscholarsandpolicymakers todiscardconflictpreventionaprioriasavalidtheoreticalconcept,aswellasa usefulcourseofaction.However,thecomplexityoftheconceptisnotsooverarching astobeunsusceptibletobothdefinitionandpraxis.Ausefulinitialapproachindefining conflictpreventioncouldbetoconsiderwhatconflictpreventionisnot.
