PROGRAM

 

 

ABSTRACT
THE ROLE OF RESEARCH INSTITUTES & THINK TANKS IN
THE PROCESS OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
SALMA MALIK

 

Peace does not come without negotiation; it requires ensuring a measure of trust, and ultimately the presence of institutions that will maintain it into the future. All these require effort and expense that must be undertaken by all interested parties. Making peace is an endeavor that entails much uncertainty, and the chance of success should depend on the degree of effort and the size of the investments in conflict management. Achieving peace and building the institutions that will make it last require much time and effort on the part of adversaries. While making this effort, the likelihood of peace is uncertain, and preparations for conflict are ongoing.

The recognition and need to study conflict and conflict resolution mechanisms have gained increased salience since the 1950s and 1960s owing to the changing nature of war as well as the introduction of nuclear weapons as the ultimate tool of destruction, which in turn took a center stage in the global strategic discourse. This in the post cold war scenario further provided an opportunity to practitioners in the field to explore new grounds in the field of conflict resolution, and gradually various sub fields to conflict resolution surfaced, such as conflict prevention, conflict management as well as conflict transformation. As the new ideas gathered force, the field began to grow and expand and institutions to study both conflict and explore mechanisms to resolve it were established. Not only was scholarly work expanded, the field further developed its own sub divisions, with expertise in studying international crises, domestic conflicts, structural and social conflicts etc.

This study aims to explore primarily the role and capacity of research institutes & think tanks in the process of conflict and crisis mitigation. Carrying out a brief review of the leading think tanks and policy institutes in the US primarily, from where this concept actually germinated, an attempt is made to examine what role such institutions have played in case of Pakistan and south Asia in general. Does the protracted conflict environment in the region provide the necessary space for conflict management? And given the scenario what role can these institutions play? What are the shortcomings and factors that contribute negatively to the role of think tanks in conflict management, and how can they be overcome?

**Paper presented in an International Workshop on Conflict Management Mechanisms and the Challenge of Peace organized by the Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Department of International Relations, University of Karachi in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation, Islamabad at the Arts Auditorium on November 26-27-2007
* Lecturer, Department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.