Confronting Ethnic Conflict critically assesses the role of external intervention in managing selected ethnic conflicts in Africa. Given the pervasive threat of ethnic conflict and the growing incidence of internal wars spilling across borders, understanding the impact of third party intervention on conflict prevention, durable peaceful governance, and amicable social relations becomes a critical exercise for any scholar of conflict management. The purpose of this project is to determine whether intervention strategies undertaken by international, regional, and subregional actors can be devised or improved so as to maximize the likelihood of successful conflict management in the case of internal conflicts, particularly ethnic conflicts.

As the literature and empirical evidence suggest, third party intervention does not always prevent or end violence. De Maio contends that external involvement is more likely to lead to effective conflict management if it works to alter the perceptions of the antagonists and ensures that the parties truly own the peace. This book focuses on four cases in detail: the Somali crisis from 1988 to 1992, the Burundi conflict from 1995 to 2003, the protracted conflict in Sudan from 1983 to 2005, and the 1994 KwaZulu-Natal civil conflict in South Africa. The cases were selected because their varying outcomes and different types of third party involvement suggest that insights can be gained into the conditions that determine successful third party intervention.