A nation must think before it acts.
While civil wars are often seen as the product of unfulfilled basic needs, internal ethnic conflicts are commonly driven by private gain and collective beliefs as well. Such combinations of motives— mixing need, greed, and creed—pose especially complex challenges for mediators and underscore the importance of prevention over cure.1 For once the three combine to spark and nourish a conflict, mediation becomes a tough job of uncertain entry and long duration.