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A basic assumption of much literature on international conflict, mediation, and social psychology is that the process of mediation can break down stereotypes or images which conflicting parties hold of each other; this breakdown is argued to facilitate settlement. The article proposes a method for the systematic testing of this assumption. This approach is then explored with a `plausibility probe' consisting of three case studies: the Israeli-Egyptian conflict from 1973 to 1979; the conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots from 1979 to 1983; and the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1985. In all three cases, the predictions of hypothesized relationship were upheld. In the one case (Egypt-Israel) where resolution was reached, images did change, correlated with mediation efforts over time. In cases (Cyprus, Iran-Iraq) where no resolution was obtained, no image change occurred despite mediation efforts. These results suggest that the previously untested hypothesis of mediation theory regarding the importance of image change is a plausible one, and should be pursued with further research in the form of more case studies and large-N analyses.

Combined critical review of: Arthur H. Westing, ed., Cultural Norms, War and the Environment. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1988; Arthur H. Westing, ed., Environmental Warfare: A Technical, Legal and Policy Appraisal. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 1984; Arthur H. Westing, ed., Herbicides in War: The Long-term Ecological and Human Consequences. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Francis, 1984; Arthur H. Westing, ed., Explosive Remnants of War: Mitigating the Environmental Effects. London and Philadelphia: Taylor and Frances, 1985; Arthur H. Westing, ed., Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Here are five remarkable and sobering volumes, with dozens of contributors, that explore in detail whether and how far there can be biological conservation in the face of war and international competition for resources. These studies are the work of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), financed by the Swedish Parliament, with an international staff. This series demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that any one interested in biological conservation who fails also to take serious interest in political and social issues will soon fail in biological conservation.

Whilst from the outset the Red Cross was founded essentially to help the victims of conflicts between States, and the various Geneva Conventions since 1863 were relevant to conflicts of that kind, it must be recognized that internal conflicts have given rise to hundreds of thousands of victims who, all too often, could not effectively be helped due to legal or political barriers to Red Cross action.The Red Cross could not be true to its mission and at the same time indifferent to the plight of victims of such conflicts, the horror and ferocity of which frequently exceeded those of the usual international wars.

Addressing decision-making over interstate disputes and the democratic peace thesis, Choi and James build an interactive foreign policy decision-making model with a special emphasis on civil-military relations, conscription, diplomatic channels and media openness. Each is significant in explaining decisions over dispute involvement. The temporal scope is broad while the geographic scope is global. The result is sophisticated analysis of the causes of conflict and factors that can ameliorate it, and a generalizable approach to the study of foreign relations. The findings that media openness con

Coverage of the 1982 Lebanon war by the Norwegian National broadcasting Corporation.

In the Kyrgyz Region of Ferghana Valley, violent conflict flares repeatedly between the local Kyrgyz majority population and the Tajik ethnic minority. Drawing on a recent qualitative case study conducted in the borderlands of one of the two Tajik enclaves within the Kyrgyz Batken Region, this article seeks to identify the causes of pasture-related inter-ethnic conflict in the agro-pastoral Kyrgyz–Tajik border region. The paper employs an institutional perspective and explores the impact of the given institutional setup. We note that a lack of institutional arrangements for transboundary pasture use hinders Tajik herders' legal access to the region's sole summer pastures. The Kyrgyz "Pasture Committee" has pragmatically designed local rules on transboundary pasture use in the Kyrgyz–Tajik border region, thereby assuring Tajik herders at least semi-official access to the summer pastures. Yet while these rules limit conflict, they fail to limit overstocking. Locally designed rules also open up business opportunities to Tajik herders, which some of the Kyrgyz herders consider unfair and illegal. In order to achieve sustainable and locally accepted regional pasture management, despite the lack of legislative amendments and international agreements, we propose local-level institutional innovations. We also emphasize that pasture use regulation is paramount for maintaining regional stability and peaceful cooperation. ; Peer Reviewed