Samenvatting

In order to prevent conflicts and escalation, the United Nations works with a so called Conflict Management system. With this system, the UN aims to prevent the outbreak of conflicts. Besides, Conflict Management makes is possible to bring permanent peace to a conflict area by addressing root causes and effects of conflict.

Conflict Prevention, the first phase of the Conflict Management system, occurs in the first stage of the conflict process and it seeks to resolve disputes before violence breaks out. Conflict Prevention has became one of the highest aims of the United Nations. Conflict Prevention aims to avoid violent escalation of a dispute. Conflict Prevention monitor/ intervene to stabilize a potentially violent conflict before it breaks out. The UN initiate activities that addresses the root causes as well as the break out of a dispute. Another important feature of Conflict Prevention is the establishment of mechanisms that detect early warning signs and record specific indicators that may help to predict impending violence.

Nowadays we still see many conflicts all over the world. Is the United Nations able to prevent conflicts from breaking out? What about the war in Iraq, the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the conflict in Darfur? In this dissertation I have analised the role of the UN in these conflicts.