Mediation and Peacekeeping Agenda in International Relations

The attacks affected the civilians living in the region, leaving as many as 300,000 dead and 2.8 million displaced (Darfur Conflict). Aicha el Basri, a former UN spokesperson, stated, “In one instance last September, peacekeepers "watched" the pro-government Janjaweed militia group carry out an assault on civilians travelling in a truck, but did not intervene (Darfur Conflict).” The UN hasn’t acted on the attacks occurring right in front of them. The civilians of Darfur feel the UN has betrayed them, by standing back and not protecting them. The UN organization, the African Union Mission In Darfur (UNAMID), has also failed to bring safety to the civilians. According to Ahmed H. Adam, “...UNAMID neither has a mandate nor the equipment for intervention, so even in the midst of conflict; it is unable to effectively respond (Adam).” The destruction of the population by their own government is the most recent failure of the UN, since the genocide in Darfur still continues

As a response to the crisis in Darfur in 30th July 2004, the United Nations and the Security Council assigned

The UN and the US government are accredited for deploring conflict situations as well as contributing humanitarian aid, and this is what these two organizations did in Rwanda and Darfur. However, the UN did not do anything to punish or prevent the genocides that took place in these two countries. The US government promised to support the peace talk’s agreement in Darfur and hold the perpetrators accountable for their acts. It never kept that promise since nothing has been done. So far, the UN’s Security Council has also failed in its peace keeping mission effeorts, and is instead pressuring Sudan with words only. No solid steps have been made to bring the wrong doers into justice (Shapiro).

Darfur is the western region of the African country of Sudan. Currently, the people of Darfur have been continually attacked by the Sudanese army and by proxy-militia controlled by the Sudanese government. Families are being uprooted and starved, children tormented and murdered by the thousands and women raped without punishment. Innocent civilians in Darfur continue to be victims of unthinkable brutality. Many people have become homeless and seek protection in refugee camps in Chad. Yet despite its outward appearance, Darfur has a vast ethnic diversity and a complex, ancient system of resolving conflict. Genocide has occurred in several places around the world, but in Darfur there are certain reasons why it

The war in Darfur materialized at the wrong time for the United States, Norway, and Britain, two of which are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. At the time, they were focused on ensuring the success of the Naivasha negotiations in Sudan. The Naivasha agreement, also known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was an permanent ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/ Sudan People’s Liberation Army to end the Second Sudanese Civil War. This was long time coming because the conflict had started all the way back in 1983. The Security Council used the ‘Brahimi principal,’ which states “regional organizations take primary responsibility for the problems in their backyard” to push responsibility on to the A.U. The Brahimi principle The Security Council was glad to give someone else the responsibility of Darfur so they could focus on others tasks at hand.

Before relating the R2P to the Darfur Crisis it is important to understand the fundamental tenants of the R2P debate in relation to humanitarian intervention and the repercussions for state sovereignty. The R2P concept can trace its modern origin to the address given by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, to the General Assembly in 1999 putting forward the challenge of preventing another Rwanda.

There are three major conflict interventions: mediation, arbitration, and negotiation. Each of these interventions have pros and cons. Mediation is the one intervention that incorporates creativity in the resolution process so it benefits all disputants involved. Mediation also promotes collaboration and cooperation more so than arbitration and negotiation do. It is also a more cost efficient for the disputants and is more likely to resolve conflicts quicker. Mediators help defuse anger, improve communication, and specifically work on trust building. Mediation ensures that the matter can be handled privately without risk of public reprimand. On the other hand, mediation does not always result in a settlement like arbitration does. Mediation

After we have spent the first week of January together for our Transcending Conflict class, we leave the session wondering what type of qualities and characteristics it takes to be a successful mediator and peacemaker during these modern times. It is known that our Western culture is extremely “settlement driven” in terms of the mediation and dispute resolution process. We focus on the substantive issue of a conflict, and we hope to reach a mutually beneficial agreement that is “easy” and “quick.” As Americans, we usually do not get much credit, if any at all, about our ability to focus on other people through “compassion, strength, and common humanity.”

Even though these groups agreed to the ceasefire, there was still violence going on in Darfur. In August 2004, 7,000 Rwandan and Nigerien peacekeeping troops are sent by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) to work in Darfur. Around 2 million civilians were displaced in Darfur and Chad by the end of 2004, around 100,000 were dead. On September 9, 2004, the conflict in Darfur was declared a Genocide. Some of the other countries involved blame the Sudanese government because they have done nothing to help the citizens of Darfur, but the UN doesn’t agree. On January 9, 2005, the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Second Sudanese Civil War ends. In March 2005, the people who violated the ceasefire in Darfur have sanctions authorized against them by the UN Security Council. There were also people accused of war crimes. These people are referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In June, a formal investigation is begun, but the Sudanese government chose not to

Throughout Northern and Central Africa ethnic fighting and mass genocide has run rampant. Clashes between, diverse ethnic and cultural people has caused instability, these mass humanitarian disasters that can no longer be ignored. With the help of other nations South Sudan can go from another mass genocide waiting to happen, to a region supplier of much needed resources, with the help of other nations. In the 1990’s Rwanda genocide was basically ignored by the United States government and because of this hundreds of thousands were either killed or injured in the area. In the early 2000’s the war in Darfur, created a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. Again thousands of Africans were killed and the United

Difficulties in stopping this world order conflict in Sudan arose from factors such as the use of the veto power in the UN Security Council to prevent the UN imposing sanctions and stopping the conflict. This was seen in China’s use of the veto power in regards to the conflict in Sudan, resulting in a prolonging of the conflict, “China has used its veto at the UN Security Council to block moves to impose sanctions on Sudan unless it stops the fighting in Darfur” (BBC, 2007). Thus, the conflict in Darfur, Sudan is an example of a world order conflict associated with access to resources as well as a conflict which has difficulties stopping due to factors such as use of the veto

Hence, for the purpose of realizing durable peace and stability in Darfur region, this paper evaluated the genesis and main causes of the conflict, involvement of international community and other key stakeholders and their influential participation in peace processes. Then, this paper scrutinized and analyzed the main impediments which led the failure of these peace negotiations and the study proffered policy suggestions

In the modern societies in which many of us want and desire is to live in a free and unrestrictive manner; yet it is such a shame that we do little or nothing at all to help those who need our help the most. In fact, those commissioned and appointed to this task are often, if left to their own devices, the most unsuitable people for the job. There have been great strides by those in positions of power to help elevate this problem that is experienced by those who suffer during times of conflict. Whilst

An immediate ceasefire between the two groups would prevent any further breaches of Article 3 of the UDHR. The Sudanese government and Janjaweed militia must stop the ethnic cleansing in Darfur. The UN mission stationed there must then assess the safety of the civilians. If civilian safety is at risk, UN member states should look into providing military assistance.

The very initial actions and steps in pursuing peace in a mediation process within Africa are the mediator identifying the cause of the conflict and who the parties in the conflict are. This gives him the clue of the points of tension and the character of the people involved hence able to craft out a way of getting engaged in the mediation process. The mediator and his team then prepare the parties to know what the other group considers norms so as to understand and never clash with them. There is a threefold manner by which this understanding can be brought about, and it is by understanding the Facts, Attitudes and Behavior of the other party. The facts are indelible or unchangeable truths like origin, demography, historical