Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has been confronted with a number of ongoing conflict situations. These have included: a series of protracted conflicts that pre-date the demise of the Cold War international system (Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the Middle East); post-Soviet transitional conflicts (Nagorno Kharabakh, Georgia-Abkhazia, Moldova-Transdniestria); violent conflicts entailing horrendous acts of ethnic cleansing (the Balkans) or genocide (Rwanda); complex emergencies (Sudan, Rwanda); and, finally, situations in which clear political objectives have been supplanted by a political economy of violence (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Angola). In addition, there are a number of situations that are characterized as conflict prone or where the potential for violent conflict lies just beneath the surface.