Conflict Resolution Beyond the International Relations Paradigm

Philip Gamaghelyan relies on participatory action research and collective autoethnography to expose patterns of exclusion and marginalization as well as the paradoxical reproduction of conflict-promoting frames in current conflict-resolution practice applied to the Nagorno-Karabakh and Syrian crises. He builds on the work of postmodernist scholars, on reflective practice, and on discourse analysis to explore alternative and inclusive strategies with a transformative potential.
The IR discipline that has dominated policymaking is only one possible lens, and often a deficient one, for defining, preventing, or resolving contemporary conflicts wrapped in identity politics. Other conceptual frameworks can help to rethink our understanding of identity and conflicts and reconstruct them as performative and not static phenomena. These transformative frameworks are increasingly influential in the conflict resolution field and can be applied to policymaking.