Of cats and lions : Egypt and regional security governance in the Middle East

The paper assesses the role of Egypt as a regional security provider since its readmission into the Middle Eastern system in the 1990s. It introduces the main security threats in the region as perceived by both regional and extra-regional actors and it discusses the five main sources of power and status of contemporary Egypt, before addressing in detail its contribution to regional security. The paper argues that, despite its “leadership identity”, Egypt at best contributes as a power sharer in some areas of regional security but is largely unable (and arguably unwilling) to act as single security provider

Peace negotiations and time: Deadline diplomacy in territorial disputes

© 2013 Marco Pinfari. This book discusses the role of time in peace negotiations and peace processes in the post-Cold War period, making reference to real-world negotiations and using comparative data.Deadlines are increasingly used by mediators to spur deadlocked negotiation processes, under the assumption that fixed time limits tend to favour pragmatism. Yet, little attention is typically paid to the durability of agreements concluded in these conditions, and research in experimental psychology suggests that time pressure can have a negative impact on individual and collective decision-making by reducing each side’s ability to deal with complex issues, complex inter-group dynamics and inter-cultural relations.This volume explores this lacuna in current research through a comparative model that includes 68 episodes of negotiation and then, more in detail, in relation to four cases studies - the Bougainville and Casamance peace processes, and the Dayton and Camp David proximity talks. The case studies reveal that in certain conditions low time pressure can impact positively on the durability of agreements by making possible effective intra-rebel agreements before official negotiations, and that time pressure works in proximity talks only when applied to solving circumscribed deadlocks.This book will be of much interest to students of peace processes, conflict resolution, negotiation, diplomacy and international relations in general.https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_books/1052/thumbnail.jp

Towards a post-camp david paradigm? US foreign policy in a reshuffled middle east

[no abstract provided]https://fount.aucegypt.edu/faculty_book_chapters/1108/thumbnail.jp

Time to agree: time pressure and 'deadline diplomacy' in peace negotiations

The research explores the impact of various forms of time pressure on the outcomes of negotiation processes in territorial conflicts in the post-Cold War period. Deadlines are used increasingly often by mediators to spur deadlocked negotiation processes, under the assumption that fixed time limits tend to favour pragmatism. Yet, little attention is typically paid to the durability of agreements concluded in these conditions; moreover, research in experimental psychology suggests that time pressure may impact negatively on individual and collective decision-making by reducing each side's ability to deal with complex issues, complex inter-group dynamics and inter-cultural relations. The comparative section of the research assesses the impact of natural and artificial deadlines on negotiation outcomes through a fuzzy-set comparison of 68 episodes of negotiation in territorial conflicts between 1990 and 2005. The results reveal that high levels of time pressure can be associated with both 'broad' and 'limited' agreements, but that low levels of time pressure or its absence are consistently associated with more durable ones. Other exploratory models also confirm the findings of experimental psychology and show that 'complex' negotiations are more likely to result in durable agreements when they take place under no or low time pressure. These results are explored and discussed in detail in two pairs of case studies: the Bougainville and Casamance peace processes, and the Dayton and Camp David proximity talks. These cases confirm the intuitions of the comparative section; they provide evidence of the negative impact of time pressure on the cognitive processes of the actors involved and highlight, in particular, how in certain conditions the absence or low levels of time pressure can impact on the durability of agreements by making possible effective intra-rebel agreements before official negotiations, and that time pressure works in proximity talks only when applied to solving circumscribed deadlocks