Everyone interested in the resolution of intra-national conflicts should read this book. The three case studies that are the main basis of the analysis are very well done, and the author moves beyond them to contribute to negotiation theory. She employs readiness theory (an extension of ripeness theory that focuses on individual disputants) in the analysis of her cases and then moves into an insightful critique of that theory. She notes elements of the theory that are supported by these and other cases, suggests amendments that give the theory greater depth, and points out deficiencies that need to be corrected. Such a melding of case study and theory is unusual and very welcome in the field of conflict studies.
Dean G. Pruitt, University at Buffalo: The State University of New York, USA
Negotiating Intractable Conflicts
Through the lens of readiness theory, this book focuses on elements that determine the success and failure in negotiating peace agreements in intractable ethno-national conflicts.
Examining three cases of mediated negotiation in Aceh, Sudan, and Sri Lanka, the book provides an analytical framework for studying the processes underlying the movement toward conflict resolution. By studying readiness theorys capacity to identify the factors that influence parties readiness to reach an agreement, it constitutes another step in the development of readiness theory beyond the pre-negotiation stage. The work highlights the central role that third parties mediators and the international community play in the success or failure of peace processes, illuminating the mechanisms through which third parties affect the dynamics and outcome of the process. The systematic examination of readiness theory in these cases is instructive for researchers as well as for practitioners who seek to successfully mediate intractable conflicts and help adversaries achieve peace accords.
This book will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, peace studies, Asian politics, African politics, and international relations in general.
Amira Schiff is faculty in the Program on Conflict Resolution, Management and Negotiation graduate program at Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution
Series Editors: Tom Woodhouse and Oliver Ramsbotham
University of Bradford
The field of peace and conflict research has grown enormously as an academic pursuit in recent years, gaining credibility and relevance amongst policy makers and in the international humanitarian and NGO sector. The Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution series aims to provide an outlet for some of the most significant new work emerging from this academic community, and to establish itself as a leading platform for innovative work at the point where peace and conflict research impacts on International Relations theory and processes.
UN Intervention Practices in Iraq
A Discursive Approach to International Relations
Kerstin Eppert
Comparing Peace Processes
Alpaslan zerdem and Roger Mac Ginty
State Domination and the Psycho-Politics of Conflict
Power, Conflict and Humiliation
Daniel Rothbart
Gender, Nationalism and Conflict Transformation
New Themes and Old Problems in Northern Ireland
Fidelma Ashe
Resolving International Conflict
Dynamics of Escalation, Continuation and Transformation
Edited by Isabel Bramsen, Poul Poder and Ole Wver
Negotiating Intractable Conflicts
Readiness Theory Revisited
Amira Schiff
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Peace-and-Conflict-Resolution/book-series/RSPCR
Negotiating Intractable Conflicts
Readiness Theory Revisited
Amira Schiff
First published 2020
by Routledge
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2020 Amira Schiff
The right of Amira Schiff to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schiff, Amira, author.
Title: Negotiating intractable conflicts : readiness theory revisited / Amira Schiff.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Series: Routledge studies in peace and conflict resolution | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019020394 | ISBN 9780367187200 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429197857 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Peace-buildingCase studies. | Peace-buildingIndonesiaAceh. | Peace-buildingSudan. | Peace-buildingSri Lanka.
Classification: LCC JZ5538 .S34 2020 | DDC 303.6/4dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019020394
ISBN: 978-0-367-18720-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-19785-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dean G. Pruitt, the father of readiness theory, for the privilege and pleasure of exchanging ideas over the years. I am grateful, as well, for his constructive and illuminating comments on the first draft of this book.
Special thanks to the two anonymous reviewers from Routledge for their insightful comments and advice on the manuscript. Much of this research was funded by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University, and I greatly appreciate this support.
This project would not have been completed without the patience and support of Joseph, Sapir, Rachel, and David, my partners on the long journey. This book is dedicated to them.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to diea time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:18
Scholars in the conflict resolution field have devoted considerable study to intractable conflicts. These are defined as conflicts that endure over time and refuse to yield to negotiation efforts facilitated by third parties or that are conducted bilaterally by the parties to the conflict (Crocker, Hampson, & Aall, 2005, 2018). In these multilayered and destructive disputes, the interests, wills, beliefs, values, and subjective needs of the parties are in conflict, and there is a pervasive dynamic of misperception and mistrust. This situation poses a difficult challenge for adversaries who seek to manage or resolve their conflict and for third parties who wish to engage in peacemaking (Crocker et al., 2005, 2018; Coleman, 2003, 2006; Gray, Coleman, & Putnam, 2007; Kriesberg, Northrup, & Thorson, 1989; Kriesberg, 1998, 2005; Mitchell, 2014; Zartman, 2005).
