2. Armed conflict prevention, management and resolution*
Trevor Findlay

There were several major successes in armed conflict prevention, management and resolution in 1997, with peace accords concluded in some lesser-known conflict situations. Historic all-party negotiations began over the Northern Ireland conflict, agreement to begin talks on peace treaties was reached by the two Korean states and by Japan and Russia, and peace accords were achieved in Bangladesh, Liberia, Nicaragua and Tajikistan. In contrast, military coups unravelled the peace settlements in Cambodia and Sierra Leone; the peace processes in Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechnya and the Middle East remained deeply troubled, and diplomatic efforts failed to prevent or halt wars in Central Africa. Fighting erupted in the Central African Republic, western China and Comoros; the beginnings of armed resistance appeared in Kosovo; and fighting continued or was resumed in a number of other countries.

Since the end of the cold war the international community's capacity for conflict prevention, management and resolution has shown steady improvement, although professional conflict resolution and prevention capabilities at the UN and in regional bodies remain underdeveloped and underfunded. The largest peace-enforcement/peacekeeping mission, involving 31 000-36 000 troops, was the NATO-led Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While most of the regional initiatives continued to stem from Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), there were also a number from African, Latin American and Asian organizations.

Appendix 2A, by Susanna Eckstein,presents a table of multilateral peacekeeping operations in 1997.