Peacemaking in the Civil War

More about the book

Challenging the literatures on war termination, civil war and revolution - which typically dismiss the possibility of negotiated settlement - this book examines the problem of negotiations during civil wars and demonstrates that third party mediation can help resolve such conflicts. Stedman analyzes four international attempts to mediate a settlement to the Zimababwean civil war of the 1970s and compares the three failed negotiations - the 1974-75 Kenneth Kaunda/John Vorster ""detente"" exercise, the Henry Kissinger mediation that led to the Geneva conference of 1976 and the Anglo-American initiatives of David Owen and Cyrus Vance in 1977-1978 - with the successful 1979 Lancaster House Conference on Rhodesia, chaired by Lord Carrington. Drawing on primary sources not available previously, his discussion of the factors that distinguish the failures from the successful attempt is an interesting contribution to conflict resolution theory, particularly with reference to the work of William Zartman. A final chapter considers the lessons of the Zimbabwean experience for South Africa today.