Brown Cover OP 43 - The Watson Institute for International Studies

to accept mediation as is their consideration of the consequences
of accepting or rejecting mediation. 34
Although lack of trust associated with perceptions of bias
may well influence the cost-benefit calculus, it is unlikely to be a
determining factor in the decision. In Nagorno-Karabakh, local
authorities resist compromise not because they perceive the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to
be less than impartial, but because they perceive no compelling
reason to compromise. Any compromise would involve surrender
of gains made during the war, and the benefits of doing so
have never been made clear to them.
Ironically, proportionality may also fuel conflict. “Seemingly
impartial interventions can contribute … to aggravating
tensions.” 35 The principle of impartiality dictates that humanitarian
aid should be delivered in proportion to the need of
vulnerable groups. However, the targeting of specific categories
of vulnerability while ignoring the rest of the population (often
in dire straits) can create tension between recipient and nonrecipient
populations, as has occurred in Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Kenya, and Ethiopia. A recent study put the problem well:
Aside from their regional political impacts, large-scale
refugee movements have a major social and economic
impact on host countries ... [Refugees’] presence inevitably
places a heavy burden on local authorities, forcing
host country authorities to divert energies and resources
from their own development effort … When refugees are
from the same cultural and linguistic group as the host
population, there is often widespread sympathy for
their situation. Where such bonds are weak, friction and
resentment more easily arise. A common source of discontent
among the local populace, particularly the poor,
arises when refugees receive attention and services not
available to the local host community. 36
Targeting vulnerable groups with assistance may make
them targets of violence. An MSF official recalled in this context
in 1996 in which:
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