Conflict Prevention from a Nordic Perspective: Putting Prevention into Practice

In English Since conflict prevention is a visionary strategy it has beer difficult to put it into practice. This article explores conflict prevention in practice as well as in theory. There have been several attempts by the international community to take a proactive rather than a reactive approach to conflict management. One case often held up as a model for post Cold War prevention is the preventive mission to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the first and only substantive preventive mission undertaken by the UN. The mission was supported by large contributions of troops by the Nordic states. The Nordic contributions to the FYROM Command of UNPROFOR is used to illustrate how conflict prevention can move from the realm of ideas to the field of action.