It's Not Who but How: Third Parties and the Peaceful Settlement of Territorial Claims.

How can third parties help disputing states commit to peaceful settlements? While scholars have shown that outside actors help enforce agreements after they are signed, fewer investigate if third parties remove commitment barriers during the course of negotiations. Scholars also have not definitively concluded if unbiased intermediaries are more effective than biased ones. We explore the management of territorial claims to determine what types of intervention and third parties are best at removing commitment barriers. Surprisingly, we find that the intervener's preferences do not influence conflict management so much as the intervention technique used. When territorial rivals undergo binding negotiations that are best at ending disputes, they prefer unbiased intermediaries. We conclude that impartial diplomatic intervention does not directly remove commitment barriers. Rather, disputants choose unbiased third parties to broker the types of talks most likely to end territorial disputes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]