Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World

by Chester A. Crocker, Fen Osler Hampson (Editor), Pamela Aall editors (Editor)

The definitive volume on the sources of contemporary conflict and the array of possible responses to it.

Genres: International Relations, Nonfiction, Grad School

726 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

Chester Arthur Crocker (born October 29, 1941) is the James R. Schlesinger professor of strategic studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and serves on the board of its Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. Dr. Crocker’s teaching and research focus on international security and conflict management.

From 1981 to 1989, Dr. Crocker served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. He developed the strategy and led the diplomacy that produced the treaties signed by Angola, Cuba, and South Africa in New York in December 1988. These agreements resulted in Namibia’s independence (March 1990) and the withdrawal of foreign forces from Namibia and Angola. President Ronald Reagan granted him the President’s Citizens Medal, the country’s second highest civilian award.

Dr. Crocker chaired the board of the United States Institute of Peace (1992-2004) and continued to serve as a director of this independent, nonpartisan institution through 2011. He serves on the boards of Universal Corporation, Inc., a leading independent trading company in leaf tobacco and agricultural products; and the Good Governance Group Ltd, a strategic advisory consultancy service. He is a member of the World Bank’s Independent Advisory Board on governance and anti-corruption; is a founding member of the Global Leadership Foundation, a leading international NGO that advises leaders facing governance and conflict challenges; and also serves on the international advisory board of International Affairs (London). Dr. Crocker consults as advisor on strategy and negotiation to a number of U.S. and European firms.

Dr. Crocker’s previous professional experience includes service as news editor of Africa Report magazine (1968-69) and staff officer at the National Security Council (1970-72) where he worked on Middle East, Indian Ocean, and African issues. He first joined Georgetown University as director of its Master of Science in Foreign Service program, serving concurrently as associate professor of international relations (1972-80). He served as director of African studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (1976-80).

Dr. Crocker lectures and writes on international politics, U.S. foreign policy, conflict management and security issues, and African affairs. He has appeared on numerous television shows, as a dinner or keynote speaker at conferences in the U.S., Europe and Africa, and as a witness in Congressional hearings. His book, High Noon in Southern Africa: Making Peace in a Rough Neighborhood, was published by Norton in 1993. He is the co-author of Taming Intractable Conflicts: Mediation in the Hardest Cases (2004) and co-editor with Fen O. Hampson and Pamela Aall of: Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World (2011), Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World (2007), Grasping the Nettle: Analyzing Cases of Intractable Conflict (2005), Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict (2001), Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World (1999) and Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict (1996).

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only interesting thing in this book is that they have a list of most of the classics of conflict resolution books

no surprise when 2 of the 47 books is one of the coauthors of the book
blah

the list gets crappy once you get into the 1980s
the first 18 books are okay, the other 60% are modern pablum

I thought it was interesting they had the 1981 book
Getting to Yes!

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Getting to YES

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In is a best-selling 1981 non-fiction book by Roger Fisher and William Ury

All of the authors were members of the Harvard Negotiation Project.

The book suggests a method of principled negotiation consisting of

1 separate the people from the problem
2 focus on interests, not positions
3 invent options for mutual gain
4 insist on using objective criteria

Although influential in the field of negotiation, the book has received criticisms.

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Criticism

Gerald M. Steinberg in a 1982 review criticized Fisher and Ury for "describ[ing] the world as it should be, and not as it is".

For instance, in practice it can be difficult to find mutually agreeable objective criteria in a negotiation.

Furthermore, Fisher and Ury assume that negotiating parties are unitary actors, but negotiations often involve complex collective entities, such as 'states'.

James J. White, a professor of law at the University of Michigan, suggested in 1984 that Getting to Yes is not scholarly or analytical and relies on anecdotal evidence, and that "the authors seem to deny the existence of a significant part of the negotiation process, and to oversimplify or explain away many of the most troublesome problems inherent in the art and practice of negotiation".

A 2013 Forbes article asserted that the techniques in the book do not work for three reasons: people do not trust other people, people are not rational, and people do not enjoy negotiating.

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The book is flawed but highly interesting, and much better than the Dogs of War

After the 1980s, let's just say that all the books on Conflict, ended up like the authors of this work, where everyone holds hands and sings Kumbaya.

like all the liberal interventionists
who create just as much trouble as the neoconservatives

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The Ripeness Trap

Theories relying on a "mutually hurting stalemate" (a key concept in Crocker's work) can overlook opportunities for intervention earlier in a conflict or misjudge when a conflict is actually ready for resolution.

And when you do get agreement
it's toothless mechanisms

sorta like making sure Iran doesn't secretly enrich uranium

and if that's peachy, let's trade with them for oil
who cares what happens a decade from now

future presidents can fix everything!

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beep

turn to the next frame on the filmstrip

Explore liberal approaches to conflict resolution, including economic ties, democracy, and global cooperation for lasting peace.

and all the Preventative Diplomacy in the world to say
"we tried!"

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I think this summary sums up my thoughts on the book

- Modern conflict resolution theory, while advancing from simple adjudication to more sophisticated negotiation and mediation techniques, faces significant criticism regarding its effectiveness, underlying assumptions, and practical application.

a. not effective
b. defective assumptions
c. not very practical at all

[Cristina Sburlea · Rating 5 out of 5]

My father gave me this book as a gift for my birthday maybe 5 years ago and now I even reference it in my class when we get to talk about more recent conflicts. It is well written and it offers a lot of information so that the reader can have a better understanding of the subject.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

difficult to read, but good insights for politics and peace