Research Handbook on Conflict Prevention (Elgar Handbooks in Political Science)

The Research Handbook on Conflict Prevention is a cohesive and comparative analysis of the ways in which organised violence is combatted. Renowned experts dissect the complex problem of conflict prevention by investigating its three main aspects: agency, methods and timing. This incisive Research Handbook both reviews the current literature on conflict prevention and introduces new theoretical and empirical findings. Contributors compare the different roles played by women’s groups, academics, military forces, and local and international agents such as the UN. They also explore resolution methods such as prenegotiation, negotiation, mediation and conflict transformation. In doing so, they illustrate the various ways in which hegemonic masculine approaches, peace journalism, and robust non-military and military approaches manage to reduce organised violence. Finally, the Research Handbook tracks the different phases of the conflict process, from the onset and escalation of conflict to conflict relapse. Confronting the vicious cycle of organised violence, this rigorous and multi-faceted study of conflict prevention provides an impetus towards understanding the field and inspiring solutions. In-depth and comprehensive, this Research Handbook will be of great benefit to scholars of conflict and international relations, human rights, terrorism, and security, as well as practitioners and policymakers in the field.