%0 Journal Article
%T Disentangling bias: national capabilities, regime type, and international conflict mediation
%A Frederick R. Chen
%J Conflict Management and Peace Science
%@ 1549-9219
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0738894216689560
%X Existing literature on bias and third-party conflict management mainly focuses on the dichotomy of whether the mediator¡¯s bias as a whole can contribute to mediation onset and outcomes. I argue that we need more specific and disaggregated research on the mediator¡¯s bias because the side on which a prospective mediator¡¯s bias lies may significantly affect the likelihood of mediation onset. Why are some biased mediations initiated by third parties while others are not? By disentangling the mediator¡¯s bias and by distinguishing between different levels of bias, I find that the likelihood of mediation onset tends to increase if the potential mediator shares a closer political relationship with a conflicting state that has greater national capabilities or that is more authoritarian than the counterparty. However, the effect is largely conditional on the levels of the mediator¡¯s bias, where a more obvious level of bias is more likely to facilitate mediation initiation. This article advances our understanding of bias and international conflict mediation
%K Bias
%K international conflict
%K mediation
%K national capabilities
%K political relationship
%K regime type
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0738894216689560