NATO's third party role in international conflict management

Abstract

This study is an attempt to anaiyze NATO's third party roie in internationai confiict management in post Coid-War Europe which targets to suppiement the UN's regime in this regard. Firstiy, an internationai confiict and its management by third parties, particuiarly governmentai organizations, is examined within the framework of the UN Secretary Générai Ghali's theoreticai outiine cailed "An Agenda For Peace". This aims at ciarifying the concepts on which the anaiysis is built. Secondly, NATO's gradual adaptation to third party role in conflict management, from late 1990 to June 1994, is sequentially presented together with its implementation in Bosnia-Herzegovina to demonstrate that NATO has genuinely aspired to assume such a role in European conflicts. Thirdly, the possible third party roles that NATO could perform in the management of international conflicts are contemplated within the theoretical framework summarized in the first part. Finally, NATO's structural strengths and weaknesses are discussed to illustrate that NATO is still the unique regional organization which can assist the UN in managing international conflicts in Europe.