This article focuses on the dilemmas and trade-offs that third parties face when mediating violent political conflicts. Should they ignore human rights violations because pushing the issue could jeopardize relationships with political actors who grant access for humanitarian aid? Will bringing moderates and hardliners together help the peace process or radicalize moderate actors? What should dialogue facilitators do when the act of identifying non-mainstream groups to be included into dialogue increases division and polarization? The activity of peacemaking is inherently characterized by such process and strategy dilemmas where two equally compulsory imperatives seem not to be attainable at the same time. The article proposes a framework to break out of either-or thinking in these situations. We argue that: 1) making oneself aware of how a decision is perceived, and 2) systematically exploring a set of different strategies for creating new unexpected options helps to ease these decisions and avoid rotten compromises. The model reworks and combines existing problem-solving strategies to create a new explorative option generation approach to peacemaking dilemmas and trade-offs. Some of these strategies, such as sequencing and incrementalization, are already well-established in peacemaking. Others, such as compartmentalization and utilization, are rather unconsciously used. All identified strategies, however, are not yet systematically employed to manage third parties’ own dilemmas and trade-offs. Under the suggested framework, these strategies can act in complement to synthesize creativity and strategic thinking with surprising ease. Using examples from the authors’ peacemaking activities and observations in Myanmar, Thailand, and Ukraine, the article demonstrates the real-world benefits of the framework in terms of decision assessment and optional thinking.

Journal Article Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective Get access Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective. Edited by James K. Wellman and Clark B. Lombardi. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. 321pp. $35.00. Simon J. A. Mason Simon J. A. Mason 1Center for Security Studies, ETH ZurichZurich, Switzerland *mason@sipo.gess.ethz.ch Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Church and State, Volume 56, Issue 2, Spring 2014, Pages 376–378, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csu012 Published: 26 March 2014

The goal of this handbook is to enhance the practice of mediation by showing how lessons from individual mediators can be identified and made available both to their home organization (e.g., a foreign ministry, intergovernmental organization, or nongovernmental organization) and to a wider practitioner audience. More particularly, the handbook gives guidance to staff debriefing mediators who are or have been directly involved in peace negotiations. The focus here is not on self-assessments by the mediators themselves, nor on evaluations of the mediator's performance by external donors, nor on political or psychological debriefing. Instead, this handbook examines methodological debriefing: that is, interviews conducted with the goal of learning lessons about the mediation method from the experience of a specific mediator that are useful for future mediation processes. Methodological debriefing is typically conducted by individuals who have not been directly involved in the mediator's work and who do not seek to judge it but who want to learn the mediator's perspective on what was done and why it was done. Ideally, the mediator will also benefit from the interview by discovering something new through the questions posed, by having the opportunity to recount a challenging experience, or at least by having her or his experiences documented in a structured and objective manner

Civilians play an increasingly important and complex role in armed conflicts, both as victims and as perpetrators. While this overall trend towards 'civilianization' encompasses all types of present-day conflicts, it is twofold: it takes on a very different nature in high-technology warfare than in the context of low-technology combats that are typical of many civil wars. This article explores these two trends, shows how they merge in asymmetric warfare and outlines key implications for international stabilization and state-building efforts. The present-day conflict landscape is presented from a security policy point of view, placing the ongoing debates on the civilian participation in hostilities in a broader strategic context.

Complementing market-based policy instruments with conflict analysis approaches provides a wider understanding of market situations and allows to identify minimal requirements regarding needs, power and conflict dynamics. If these are not met, a market cannot be successfully introduced or a liberalization process implemented. Conflict analysis offers a language better suited to the concerns of people negatively affected by new markets. Applying this language helps to counterbalance the predominance of economic concepts. This fosters mutual understanding and enhances the prospect for successful implementation of market-based policies. We illustrate the potential of conflict analysis with examples from water privatization and labeling.

The following article provides an overview of issues related to international cooperation and water use in the Eastern Nile Basin, thereby introducing the following three papers written from an Ethiopian, Sudanese and Egyptian perspective respectively. Basic environmental and socio-economic data is given. The various national interests and international initiatives in the Nile Basin are introduced. Key areas of consensus between the authors, as well as open questions that still need to be worked on, are elaborated. The article also describes the unique process of how the six authors from three countries worked on this joint publication in the Nile Dialogue Workshop of 2002. Key conclusions are that sustained, non-polemical communication can lead to cooperation, and that cooperation is the cornerstone to sustainable water development.

AnaesthesiaVolume 47, Issue 1 p. 84-85 Free Access Aerosol bronchodilator administration distally in a tracheal tube C.A. Fletcher, C.A. Fletcher Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorS.A. Mason, S.A. Mason Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author C.A. Fletcher, C.A. Fletcher Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western AustraliaSearch for more papers by this authorS.A. Mason, S.A. Mason Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: January 1992 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2044.1992.tb01994.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume47, Issue1January 1992Pages 84-85 ReferencesRelatedInformation

“This study of the Eastern Nile Basin is an essential reading for anyone interested in a comprehensive analysis of conflicts about Nile water use. Water quantity and quality data are judiciously set in relation to the national and international water management strategies of Egypt and Sudan to highlight present developments in the Basin. The innovative Dialogue Workshop methodology demonstrates how direct stakeholder interaction can enhance cooperation in international river basins.” Alexander J.B. Zehnder, Professor, Director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG)

This report highlights the links between environment and violent conflicts, exploring the potential role of the UN in preventing environment-related conflicts. Conflict prevention measures can be further distinguished into the subcategories of structural conflict prevention (focusing on long-term prevention of crises and their underlying driving factors) and operational conflict prevention (dealing with measures applicable in the face of immediate crisis). The report especially focuses on violent political conflicts, including both international conflicts and intra-national conflicts with the potential of international spillover.