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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has evolved conflict management and security framework through which it responds to the myriads of socio-political crisis in the sub-region. This paper assesses the ECOWAS mechanisms for conflict management vis-à-vis the challenges facing the region. It begins by looking at the nature of conflict in West Africa; and then the evolution of ECOWAS conflict management framework. Using content analysis, the paper argues that ECOWAS has evolved a comprehensive conflict management and security framework and has made significant achievements in conflict management in the West African sub-region. It however, recommends peacebuilding efforts that address poverty, human rights abuses and election fraud as well as more synergy and political will to handle religious extremism in the sub-region

In the period of the 20th century we witnessed the new shape of the pattern of Malaysian society. The British developed the peninsular Malaysian economy on a pattern based on the production of raw materials for export such as rubber, timber, oil-palm, iron ore and tin, while foodstuffs and manufactured goods were imported from the metropolitan centres. Ironically, it has been argued that the local Malay population for political, cultural and other reasons was not interested in selling its labour force in these export oriented industries and therefore cheap immigrant labourers from China and India were brought in large numbers. Thus a multi-ethnic society was created; the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and others working in different jobs but living side by side in apparent harmony. One of the least known developments of the period was the growing political consciousness among both the indigenous and the immigrant population. Islamic reformists (a West Asian and Indian phenomenon) and Chinese revolutionary ideas found enthusiastic support among segments of the people here. Most of the Malay reformists confined their campaign to the press and the few religious schools, better known as Sekolah Pondok (or Huts School) which they had established. Until now most Malaysians have categorised themselves and others by communal categories, which usually take preference over class, regional, and employment basis, among other things. To explore and identify these communal issues we shall look at and examine some of its indicators such as the profile of ethnicity, inter-communal relations, organisation of communal politics, the use of symbols system, the language issue, and the economics growth and its distribution. This paper, which is the analysis of the Malaysian style of the conflict management process, will survey the methods and techniques used to overcome the problem. This is necessary if we are to understand the nature of the conflict management process in Malaysia. This paper will look at how the government institutionalised and socialised the local wisdom values (particularly at the community level) as a mechanism in conflict management and how it has developed. Management of the conflict and promotion of ethnic unity as well as national integration cannot be achieved just by ad hoc experiments but through careful planning in the various aspects of the social life of society. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p330

The conduct of a political party as an organization is suffused with culture with its own values, concepts and meanings. Indonesia is an interesting case in point. In this paper, the writers expound on the dynamics of organizational conflicts experienced by the Indonesia Democracy Party of Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan/PDI-P) as an opposition party in Indonesia for two decades. By utilizing a phenomenographic approach to capture the participation, perception and understanding of party leaders and members, this paper focuses on three research problems, namely the levels of internal party conflicts, styles of conflict management and factors that influences the process of conflict resolution. There are several highlighted findings. First, the level of conflict occurs on the levels of inter-organizational, intergroup, intragroup, and interpersonal. Secondly, the styles of conflict management adopted by individuals in the party consist of collaborative, competitive, accommodating, compromising and avoidance styles, which vary according to character, political needs, and ideology. Lastly, conflict resolution in the party is heavily influenced by (1) personal factors such as individual member’s conceptions on internal party conflicts as well as their references to how conflicts have been solved before; (2) relational factors, i.e. relationships between members of the party which are fostered by an interdependence to reach a common goal as an opposition party, and (3) PDI-P’s organizational culture which is built around a juxtaposition between the heterogeneity of geographical and ideological backgrounds and the authority of a charismatic leadership. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p608

This study examines the concepts of conflict and constraints and their antecedents in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It makes a clarification of causes, and types and conflict management in higher institutions of learning. The paper observes that management staff, students, teachers, government. Trade Unions may be sources of conflict for one reason or the other. Nevertheless, the outcomes of such conflicts causes prolong of academic activities, destruction of life and properties and in some cases render school environment completely insecure for serious academic activities not beneficial to students, institutions and the society at large. It recommends that the way forward should be proper handling of higher institutions by management and government to be more democratic in handling conflicts by creating avenues for discussing and designing. The paper concludes that conflict is an attendant feature of human interaction in every organization which cannot be eliminated, therefore, maintaining a cordial relationship between staff, students by school authority, is necessary, also involving students and trade unions in decision making process appeared to be the most effective way forward for effective management of tertiary institutions. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n8p77

In Malaysia, as well as other countries, a national education system and a common language has become one of the most important cultural elements by which diverse culture groups can come together. It can form the foundation for a Malaysian national identity. In fact, the early move had been made before independence particularly through two reports, i.e. the Razak report and the Rahman Talib report. According to the Razak report 1956; “The ultimate objective of education policy in this country must be to bring together the children of all races under a national education system in which the national language (Malay language) is the main medium of instruction”. Moreover, from a different point of view, we may argue that apart from the objective of unification, there was also an underlying economic motive in choosing Malay as the national language. The aim was stated by the Barnes Committee’s Malay Education Recommendation of 1951 which wanted to encourage and enable the Malay community to occupy its rightful place in the mixed society of Malaysia. The manifestation of economic motives in the educational realm are reflected from the educational inequalities in which the Malays feel they had historically and at present an unfavoured position against the non-Malays who were far advanced. Policy makers and conflict management scholars have devoted a great deal of energy to try to explain the situation and the way this type of conflict can be remedied. Within the framework of socio-cultural dimension language and national education are important elements of the problem of Malaysian social and political system. Therefore the objective of this paper is to determine and to analyse the link between education and socio-economic factors, particularly where the language of instruction is concerned, has made education an ‘emotional and contentious’ issue in ethnically divided Malaysian society. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n2p138

Conflict is an attendant feature of human interaction and cannot be eliminated; however, its proper management and transformation are essential for peace and progress in human society. It has been observed that Nigerian universities has for decades been faced with so many crisis ranging from conflict between academic staff and university administrators, students versus academic staff, students versus university authorities , non-academic staff versus university administrators. The conflicts have given rise to distrust and hostility among professionals and academics, thus, contributing in hampering smooth, effective and efficient administration in the universities. It also appeared that despite this situation, stakeholders in education seemed to develop non-challant attitude towards these conflicts. If this role conflict is not checked it can be descriptive and negative as people involved will often see one another as enemies. This is unwholesome for the University community and Nigeria educational system as a whole. This paper examined conflict management in higher institutions of learning with specific reference to Nigerian Universities. Some causes of conflict were identified as well as ways these conflicts could be managed. Well-fashioned recommendations on how conflict could be more effectively managed for the achievement of the system's mission, goals and objectives and in particular the pursuit of industrial harmony in the system were also made. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n8p17