Conciliation is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process whereby the parties to a dispute use a conciliator, who meets with the parties both separately and together in an attempt to resolve their differences. They do this by lowering tensions, improving communications, interpreting issues, encouraging parties to explore potential solutions and assisting parties in finding a mutually acceptable outcome.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) sometimes called the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). The ICJ's primary functions are to settle international legal disputes submitted by states and give advisory opinions on legal issues referred to it by the UN. Through its opinions and rulings, it serves as a source of international law.
Mediation is a dynamic, structured, interactive process where a neutral third party assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are encouraged to actively participate in the process. Mediation is a "party-centered" process in that it is focused primarily upon the needs, rights, and interests of the parties. The mediator uses a wide variety of techniques to guide the process in a constructive direction and to help the parties find their optimal solution. A mediator is facilitative in that she/he manages the interaction between parties and facilitates open communication. Mediation is also evaluative in that the mediator analyzes issues and relevant norms ("reality-testing"), while refraining from providing prescriptive advice to the parties.
Brinkmanship is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict. It occurs in international politics, foreign policy, labor relations, and military strategy involving the threat of nuclear weapons, and high-stakes litigation. This maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the opponent to back down and make concessions. This might be achieved through diplomatic maneuvers by creating the impression that one is willing to use extreme methods rather than concede. The term is chiefly associated with American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, during the early years of the Eisenhower administration 1953-1956. Dulles sought to deter aggression by the Soviet Union by warning that the cost might be massive retaliation against Soviet targets.
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrender, in which an army agrees to give up arms; or a ceasefire or truce, in which the parties may agree to temporarily or permanently stop fighting.
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest of group and by engaging in collective negotiation. Dimensions of resolution typically parallel the dimensions of conflict in the way the conflict is processed. Cognitive resolution is the way disputants understand and view the conflict, with beliefs, perspectives, understandings and attitudes. Emotional resolution is in the way disputants feel about a conflict, the emotional energy. Behavioral resolution is reflective of how the disputants act, their behavior. Ultimately a wide range of methods and procedures for addressing conflict exist, including negotiation, mediation, mediation-arbitration, diplomacy, and creative peacebuilding.
The Simla Agreement, or Shimla Agreement, was signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed from the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971 that led to the independence of Bangladesh, which was earlier known as East Pakistan and was part of the territory of Pakistan. India entered the war as an ally of Bangladesh which transformed the war into an Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. The agreement was ratified by the Parliaments of both the nations in the same year.
The Western Sahara conflict is an ongoing conflict between the Polisario Front and the Kingdom of Morocco. The conflict originated from an insurgency by the Polisario Front against Spanish colonial forces from 1973 to 1975 and the subsequent Western Sahara War against Morocco between 1975 and 1991. Today the conflict is dominated by unarmed civil campaigns of the Polisario Front and their self-proclaimed SADR state to gain fully recognized independence for Western Sahara.
Water conflict is a term describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over an access to water resources. The United Nations recognizes that water disputes result from opposing interests of water users, public or private. A wide range of water conflicts appear throughout history, though rarely are traditional wars waged over water alone. Instead, water has historically been a source of tension and a factor in conflicts that start for other reasons. However, water conflicts arise for several reasons, including territorial disputes, a fight for resources, and strategic advantage. A comprehensive online database of water-related conflicts—the Water Conflict Chronology—has been developed by the Pacific Institute. This database lists violence over water going back nearly 6,000 years.
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) or Belfast Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. Northern Ireland's present devolved system of government is based on the agreement. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.
United Nations Security Council resolution 906, adopted unanimously on 25 March 1994, after reaffirming resolutions 849 (1993), 854 (1993), 858 (1993), 876 (1993), 881 (1993), 892 (1993), 896 (1994) and 901 (1994), the Council regretted that no agreement on a political settlement had been made between Abkhazia and Georgia, and extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 30 June 1994.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1287, adopted unanimously on 31 January 2000, after reaffirming all resolutions on Georgia, particularly Resolution 1255 (1999), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July 2000.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1311, adopted unanimously on 28 July 2000, after reaffirming all resolutions on Georgia, particularly resolutions 1287 (1999) and 1308 (2000), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2001.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1364, adopted unanimously on 31 July 2001, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1339 (2001), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2002.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1393, adopted unanimously on 31 January 2002, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1364 (2001), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July 2002.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1427, adopted unanimously on 29 July 2002, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1393 (2002), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2003.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1494, adopted unanimously on 30 July 2003, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1462 (2003), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2004 and endorsed the establishment of a police component.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1524, adopted unanimously on 30 January 2004, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1494 (2003), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July 2004.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1554, adopted unanimously on 29 July 2004, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1524 (2004), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2005.
United Nations Security Council resolution 1615, adopted unanimously on 29 July 2005, after reaffirming all resolutions on Abkhazia and Georgia, particularly Resolution 1582 (2005), the Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 January 2006.
