A Mechanism to Resolve Conflict in Afghanistan

Forty years of civil war have made the Afghan nation not just tired of such internecine conflict but also demand an early end to human suffering in every form. The issue of armed conflict management was first mentioned in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Conflict Resolution in 1957 when Quincy Wright wrote that the resolution of international conflict can be facilitated by national government efforts “to prevent tensions from arising and aggravating disputes among nations. Such resolution can proceed through the application of appropriate methods of negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and the coordination of measures to prevent aggression.” The lesson of reconciliation from the previous Apartheid regime in South Africa which had brought former adversaries to the negotiating table and work for a multi-cultural, democratic, and peaceful South Africa can be taken as a case in point for Afghanistan, along with the conflict resolution mechanisms used in divided societies like in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. In particular, the role of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa and the presence of local communities in various parts of the world as well as in Afghanistan shall be looked at. Although it remains an uphill task for the Afghan people to forget the sufferings that they were made to undergo. Peace and reconciliation have to be given a chance. The role of the United Nations and other regional actors become very crucial over here in bringing about a lasting conciliation to this war-ravaged part of Asia also depicted as the heart of Asia.