Believers, Skeptics, and Failure in Conflict Resolution

Ian S. Spears is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph, Canada, and Senior Research Associate at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the author of Civil Wars in African States: The Search for Security, and co-editor (with Paul Kingston) of States Within States: Incipient Political Entities in the Post-Cold War Era.

• 1. Introduction: The Problem of Conflict Resolution.- 2. Perspectives on Conflict Resolution.- 3. The Sources of Violent Conflict and the Banality of Conflict Resolution.- 4. Problems of Knowledge, Power and Political Will.- 5. States, Leaders, Governance and Why Conflict Resolution Fails.- 6. Why Belligerents Choose Conflict Over Peace.