Peace Talks is a global initiative fostering an open dialogue on solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. It is a joint project of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and Interpeace with the support of the Government of Switzerland.
Political/institutional barriers
The main obstacles to a peaceful resolution of a conflict are often found at the level of political institutions and agents. These include ruling elites, parties and interest groups that have a stake in the outcome of a negotiation and may not be willing to make concessions that would undermine their interests or challenge their own ideological assumptions. They also include spoiling elements that will violently oppose any negotiations they perceive as a threat to their own security and national interests.
These types of obstacles are especially powerful when conflicts have profound, long-lasting implications for the regional and international landscape. In such cases, the peace process becomes a complex interplay between the domestic politics of neighboring countries and the national aspirations of the conflicting parties. The result is a multifaceted, highly complex and often intractable process that can only be managed by a skilled team of peacemakers.
Finally, the underlying issues – such as the nature of statehood, nation building, and the concept of justice and fairness – can be tremendously difficult to reconcile. This is especially true when the core identity of a conflict is defined as religious or ethnic, such as in the case of Sudan. In such a scenario, the passions involved can be so intense and pathological that the struggle, fighting and bloody carnage of war seem to be unavoidable and irreconcilable.