1.0 Introduction
Conflict is an inescapable phenomenon of human life both at the interpersonal or international level.1 The prevalence of conflict, its management and prevention are therefore critical areas of international relations. Conflict comes in varied forms. They could be interstate, arising from perennial disagreements between States; intra-state civil conflicts which may come in varying degrees such as inter-ethnic conflicts; religious conflicts induced by ecclesiastical rivalries; conflict due to ideological incompatibilities amongst others. Some notable crises in human history includes those between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, the Croats and Serbs in former Yugoslavia, the African National Congress and the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Rwandan crisis between the Hutus and Tutsis; the Biafran Separatist Movement in Nigeria, Israeli — Palestinian Conflict which is the focus of this research, to mention a few.
The allusion of the English Philosopher — Thomas Hobbes (1588 — 1679) in his work “Leviathan” to an anarchic state of nature where the dominant individual interest is self-preservation, is an apt description of the international system.
Extrapolating to the international domain, Hobbessian theorizing is accentuated by the very absence of a hierarchical structure of government in the international arena to check the eccentricity of States whose actions in the guise of national interest replicates a state of nature. This is in contrast with what obtains in the domestic arena where Municipal law is invoked in case of an infraction. Hobbessian prescriptions that, “power be centrally and absolutely controlled, that is, a “unitary state” is however inconceivable in the international system.
Scholars of international relations are of the opinion that the Concept of State Sovereignty which is an outcrop of the idealism orchestrated by the Westphalian Settlement, promotes the culture of anarchism in the international system. This is against the backdrop of the “free-wheeling irresponsibility” of Sovereign States. Many writers are of the view that Sovereignty in contemporary international relations is an anachronism, as it is akin to absolutism.
However, the broadening focus of international law which re-conceptualizes the notion of sovereignty, now exerts a restraining influence on Sovereign States by making them answerable in relation to acts bordering on crimes against humanity and international humanitarian law. This has advanced the frontiers of international relations.
Perhaps, before an examination is made into the Arab — Israeli Conflict, it is pertinent to peruse some of the probable causes of conflict and at the same time provide an analytical assessment of the dispute. Conflicts are manifestations of an underlying and sustained disagreement between groups that have not shown enough commitment to lasting peace.
Fundamentally, the perenniality of an un-resolved societal gap or problem could be an incentive for conflict. The roots of the Israeli — Palestinian Conflict which has assumed a broader dimension, that is, the Arab — Israeli Conflict, could be traced primarily to the rivalry between the Jewish Israelis and the Muslim Palestinians over primordial claims to the same territory. It could be encapsulated as “One Land, Two Peoples”.
Some probable causes of conflict among other things are:
- Incompatibilities of objectives and actions among interacting groups or policy in the case of states, could be an inducement for conflicts.
- Conflicts could arise as a result of a demand for a piece of territory for example, the Iraqi annexation of Kuwait and Saddam Hussein’s intention to subvert the Sovereign prerogatives of the Kuwaiti government which attracted international condemnation and allied response led by the United States to defeat Iraq’s aggression.
- Economic hegemony of a particular group over the resources of another could ignite conflicts. For example, the Northern control of the resources of the Niger Delta in Nigeria which led to increased militarization of the region before the Amnesty Programme introduced by the Federal Authorities, which has now doused tensions.
- Religious and ideological diversities or incompatibilities which may translate into ecclesiastical claims of superiority of one religion over another, often times have given rise to national rivalries between groups.
- Domestic rebellion which attracts international sympathy, for example the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria in recent times, could be a source of international conflict.
- Liberation struggles, such as those between the African National Congress (ANC) and the White Supremacist regime of Apartheid South Africa; the Angolan Crisis in 1975 after the exit of the Portuguese Administrators, which signaled an end to Portuguese imperialism in Angola. The forces of liberation cut across three ethnic based nationalistic and belligerent movements enmeshed in a deep-seated fratricidal struggle for political authority. They are, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). There was also the fourth — FLEC — Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave.This was a Separatist Movement for economic hegemony.
Conflict by its very nature is inevitable. Although not all conflicts result in armed force, this paper discusses armed or violent conflict which has for long dominated relations between the Arabs and Israelis.
David Francis of the Department of Basic Studies of the University of Bradford in his work, “Peace and Conflict Studies: An African Overview of Basic Concept” defines conflict “as an intrinsic and inevitable part of human existence. However, violent conflict is inevitable and as such, is an anomaly. Conflict is defined as the pursuit of incompatible interests and goals by different individuals and groups. Armed conflict is the resort to the use of force and armed violence in the pursuit of incompatible and particular interest and goal”.
The International Criminal Tribunal in Yugoslavia states that “armed conflict exists whenever there is a resort to armed force between States or protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups within a State”.
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