The end of the Cold War has created a new international environment with entirely new requirements for conflict resolution and transformation. This presents policy-makers both in national governments and working collaboratively in multilateral contexts with new challenges. It also offers scholars an opportunity to engage in policy-relevant basic research to generate findings that can assist policy-makers in both arenas to arrive at sound diagnoses of conflicts and effective policy actions. In this paper, the authors provide a basic phase model for the analysis of conflicts, especially in relation to the functions of early warning, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and post-conflict peace-building. Various conceptual, diagnostic and normative and ethical issues are raised which require further study and collaborative research. The paper aims to stimulate a research program which may help improve policy-makers' diagnostic tools and approaches to resolving post-Cold War conflicts. Such a program would have both scientific relevance and practical importance. The study of conflict resolution needs new theoretical ideas, while the international community needs new tools to maintain order and international peace.
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