Role Of Negotiation And Mediation In Geopolitical War And Conflict
Heena Chaudhary, LL.M., National Law University, Odisha
Swikruti Sahu, LL.M., National Law University, Odisha
ABSTRACT
Longstanding conflicts over land, resources and power, are the breeding ground for geopolitical wars which lead to a colossal loss of lives, economies, and peace on both domestic and international levels. Alternate Dispute Resolution techniques such as Negotiation and Mediation exist to resolve underlying tensions between individuals, and states in a peaceful and expeditious manner with minimal court intervention. More often than not, these alternate dispute mechanisms are used to harmoniously settle family or commercial disputes, which posits the question whether the same resolution mechanisms could be employed to effectively bridge the gaps resulting in geopolitical conflicts?
Thus, Negotiation and Mediation could emerge as potential tools in resolving geopolitical wars in the contemporary era, where conventional methods of settlement of conflict, such as treaty-signing, have many a times failed to result in peace due to a lack of adherence to the same. ADR facilitates trust and fair deals, which could be used to dissolve the tensions between two powerful and sovereign giants, through mutual agreement and negotiation. As a result, understanding these two techniques has become crucial in order to explore various viable ways in which global stability could be fostered, by resolving conflicts between nations before they reach a stage of war.
This research will dive into real life instances of geopolitical wars and the effect of ADR in successfully achieving a peaceful settlement between the conflicting nations involved, such as the Camp David Accords of 1978 aka the conflict between Egypt and Israel mediated by the US President, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 that negotiated and resolved the disputes in Northern Ireland.
This paper will also critically analyse the ongoing cases of a longstanding conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, and the US and Iran, and their respective prospects to be resolved through the mechanism of negotiation and mediation, and why it may or may not be viable, given their sovereign powers, superiority and histories.
