The End of History? Conflict, Displacement and Durable Solutions in the Post-Cold War Era

The fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Cold War at the end of the ‘80s briefly ushered in the hope of a new world order based on international law, humanitarian principles and democracy which would even spell the “end of history”, according to the US political scientist Francis Fukuyama. This would imply that the number of persons persecuted or compelled to flee from armed conflicts would decrease and UNHCR and its sister organizations providing legal protection and humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons, would slowly drift towards irrelevance. 

However, as shown in this research paper, the end of the Cold War caused an increase in the number of refugees and a qualitative change in the nature of conflict. The paper identifies challenges to humanitarian organisations and points out to durable solutions.