Conflict Management and African Politics: Ripeness, Bargaining, and Mediation

What are the relationships between theory and practice in the processes of negotiations and conflict resolution? In what ways does theory inform practice and provide analytical maps for policymakers grappling with resolving intractable conflicts? How can African cases inform global conceptual frameworks and what value to generic models have in explaining the challenges of contemporary Africa? The authors included in this volume investigate these questions by building on the work of William Zartman. The book uses some of Zartmana??s key concepts a?? ripe moments, the role of formulas in developing acceptable bargains, state collapse, how indigenous knowledge shapes conflict resolution, and the roles played by third parties in mediating conflicts a?? and elaborates upon them to demonstrate how conflict resolution theory may be applied to the contemporary challenges, particularly in Africa. This volume offers a series of fresh and diverse arguments that both expand and challenge Zartmana??s theoreticallegacy. This book will be of much interest to students of international conflict management, peace/conflict studies, African politics and IR in general.