Peace Management and Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner’s Perspective

Abstract This chapter provides a firsthand perspective on the broad issues of prevention and mediation of conflicts, with special reference to two conflict environments outside Africa—Cyprus, Myanmar—and one at its heart (Darfur), where the author was deployed as a senior envoy of the United Nations Secretary General. The aim is to provide a global view on best practice for peacebuilding in Africa against the backdrop of three fundamental shifts in conflict in the post-Cold War era: from inter- to intra-state war; from primarily state-based to non-state actors; and from largely mono- to multi-causal understandings of why wars begin and end. It provides key recommendations on improving mediation, strengthening relations between the UN and NGOs, and dealing with spoilers