Introduction

Internal conflicts have become more common and important reflecting and contributing to state fragility. In Asia, armed groups have easy access to weapons and there seem to be few effective mechanisms for managing internal conflicts.

Despite the availability of a wide range of literature on peace and security instruments, there is still a need to analyse patterns of internal conflict and the various management and resolution approaches, to improve conflict resolution practice. Therefore, in 2009 the HD Centre launched the project Comparative Perspectives on Conflict Management in Asia to help fill this gap by examining and comparing conflict management strategies across Asia.