Events in the post Cold War era have challenged the notions of
realism and realpolitik, with an upsurge in intrastate conflicts
involving other actors than just the state. During this period, the
international community has witnessed the limitations of the tenets
of realism for addressing disastrous civil wars or ethno-political
conflicts internal to the states. Largely because of this, and
alongside the emerging field of conflict resolution in western
countries, transitional conflict resolution mechanisms emerged with
characteristic multi-track diplomacy orientations for solving
national problems within African countries. By the end of the 1980s
and early 1990s, several African countries, including South Africa,
Burundi and Sierra Leone resorted to either a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission or an international tribunal to handle
violence and restore peace and justice. In the same period, other
African countries opted for what was called 'national conference'
to solve their national problems and transform conflict into an
opportunity for structural change. In February 1990, the Republic
of Benin, a small nation-state in West Africa, achieved peace
through a national conference. The national conference in Benin was
a national gathering for crisis resolution through social debates
on critical issues facing the nation, and political decision making
for constructive changes. As a pioneer, Benin led the political
change movement of the national conference and was later followed
by eight other African countries namely, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville,
Gabon, Mali, Niger, Togo, the Central African Republic, and the
former Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. To
date, most of the existing literature on the subject explores the
phenomenon of national conference as something of a prelude to
political transition to multipartyism and democracy. Part of the
literature depicts the national conference as a civil coup d'etat,
and recommends its institutionalization as a system for democratic
transitions. This book takes a different approach by
conceptualizing the national conference phenomenon as a multi-track
diplomacy tool or as a process for conflict transformation and
peacemaking. Building upon theories of conflict and conflict
resolution, the author analyzes the national conference as a unique
diplomatic approach to transforming national crisis, which expands
the scope of strategies for peacemaking.
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Jacques KOKO is an Adjunct Professor in the Whitehead School of
Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University, New
Jersey, USA, where he teaches "Peacemaking and peacekeeping,"
"Conflict and Displacement in Africa," and "Ethnopolitical
conflict." A Beninois, Professor Koko has worked as a Senior Social
Analyst with the Institut Africain pour le Developpement Economique
et Social (INADES) in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and as an Associate
Researcher with the Universite Nationale d'Abomey Calavi in Cotonou
(Benin). Correlatively with his teaching position at Seton Hall
University, he currently serves as a Senior Political Analyst for
Americans for Informed Democracy. He publishes in both English and
French.
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