An overview of the conflict cycle

Abstract

The project title Human Rights and the Conflict Cycle reflects the notion that human rights concerns may differ according to the phases of conflict. Significantly, the concept of conflict phases, also described as life cycle of conflict, or conflict cycle, has been developed primarily in the context of what will be called here conflict and conflict resolution research, and human rights literature appears largely to disregard the complexity of the debate and especially the models developed. While human rights literature, particularly in the post-Cold War era, does provide insight into the role that human rights play in conflict, it largely uses a simple three stage model of conflict (conflict escalation or intensification, armed conflict and conflict de-escalation or post-conflict stage) or even no model at all. This raises the question of whether the human rights field would not benefit from the concepts and models of the conflict cycle that conflict resolution experts have developed.