Seeds of peace? Land reform and civil war recurrence following negotiated settlements

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Keels ◽  
T David Mason
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Negotiated Settlements ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Post War

Land reform has been depicted by some as an effective element of counterinsurgency strategy in nations experiencing peasant-based civil conflict. While some studies have argued that land reform reduces civilian support for insurgency, other research has demonstrated that these reforms are often undermined by brutal state repression. The study of land reform has also been driven largely by qualitative case study research, which has limited what we know about the cross-national efficacy of these reforms. This study contributes to the current literature by looking at the efficacy of land reform as part of the post-civil war peace process. Specifically, we examine whether land reform provisions included in comprehensive peace agreements reduce the risk of renewed civil war. Measuring the risk of civil war recurrence in all comprehensive peace agreements from 1989–2012, we find that the inclusion of land reform provisions in the post-war peace process substantially reduces the risk of renewed fighting.

Metamorphoses of memory of the the Russian-Serbian Brotherhood of War in Modern Serbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Timofeev
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Party System ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Second World

The article considers the perception of World War II in modern Serbian society. Despite the stability of Serbian-Russian shared historical memory, the attitudes of both countries towards World wars differ. There is a huge contrast in the perception of the First and Second World War in Russian and Serbian societies. For the Serbs the events of World War II are obscured by the memories of the Civil War, which broke out in the country immediately after the occupation in 1941 and continued several years after 1945. Over 70% of Yugoslavs killed during the Second World War were slaughtered by the citizens of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The terror unleashed by Tito in the first postwar decade in 1944-1954 was proportionally bloodier than Stalin repressions in the postwar USSR. The number of emigrants from Yugoslavia after the establishment of the Tito's dictatorship was proportionally equal to the number of refugees from Russia after the Civil War (1,5-2% of prewar population). In the post-war years, open manipulations with the obvious facts of World War II took place in Tito's Yugoslavia. In the 1990s the memories repressed during the communist years were set free and publicly debated. After the fall of the one-party system the memory of World War II was devalued. The memory of the Russian-Serbian military fraternity forged during the World War II began to revive in Serbia due to the foreign policy changes in 2008. In October 2008 the President of Russia paid a visit to Serbia which began the process of (re) construction of World War II in Serbian historical memory. According to the public opinion surveys, a positive attitude towards Russia and Russians in Serbia strengthens the memories on general resistance to Nazism with memories of fratricide during the civil conflict events of 1941-1945 still dominating in Serbian society.

Studying Desertion in the spanish Civil War

Desertion ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 38-48
Author(s):  
Théodore McLauchlin
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Armed Group ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Group Characteristics

This chapter develops the account of desertion primarily in the context of the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, which clarifies the role of several variables through Spain. It looks at many different organizations on both the rebel side and the Republican side in order to examine the impact of different armed group characteristics on desertion. It uses the Spain case study to understand desertion dynamics in a particularly fascinating civil conflict. The chapter focuses on the Republican side, analyzing the dynamics of its relatively high rate of desertion at various points in the conflict. It demonstrates norms of cooperation and coercion at the micro level to statistically assess individual soldiers' decisions to fight or to flee.

scholarly journals The Prevalence of Power-Sharing: Exploring the Patterns of Post-Election Peace

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna K. Jarstad
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Good News ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Negative Effect

Why are some elections followed by armed conflict, while others are not? This article begins to explore this question by mapping the prevalence of power-sharing agreements and patterns of post-election peace in states shattered by civil war. While democracy builds on the notion of free political competition and uncertain electoral outcomes, power-sharing reduces the uncertainty by ensuring political power for certain groups. Nevertheless, new data presented in this article – the Post-Accord Elections (PAE) data collection – shows that the issues of peace, power-sharing and democracy have become intertwined as the vast majority of contemporary peace agreements provide for both power-sharing and elections. First, in contrast to previous research which has suggested that power-sharing is a tool for ending violence, this study shows that conflict often continues after an agreement has been signed, even if it includes provisions for power-sharing. Second, this investigation shows no evidence of power-sharing facilitating the holding of elections. On the contrary, it is more common that elections are held following a peace process without power-sharing. Third, a period of power-sharing ahead of the elections does not seem to provide for postelection peace. Rather, such elections are similarly dangerous as post-accord elections held without a period of power-sharing. The good news is that power-sharing does not seem to have a negative effect on post-election peace.

Forced Migration and Political Violence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Fisk
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
Analytical Tools

There has been renewed academic interest in the security impacts of forced migration since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 generated more than 5 million refugees, most of whom fled to neighboring countries and to Europe. Researchers are, for instance, increasingly working to identify how the type, severity, and perpetrator of political violence affect patterns of displacement, such as whether forced migrants cross borders or remain in their home country. Though much of the discussion in the security studies context continues to center on forced migration flows as a conduit for civil war, international terrorism, and refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as perpetrators, scholars also have begun to focus attention on the ways in which refugees and the internally displaced can become the targets of political violence in the receiving state. Following the path of earlier qualitative research recognizing that displaced populations rarely become militarized, studies of a more quantitative orientation are now working to isolate the conditions under which forced migration leads to varying forms of political violence. Another important and growing area of focus is on how resettlement of the displaced affects the dynamics of violence in the origin country, including the potential for conflict recurrence. Efforts to study security impacts of forced migration more systematically have increased alongside the availability of new data and more diverse analytical tools and methods. Still, many important dimensions of the forced migration–conflict connection remain to be explored, and innovative research as well as new data collection efforts are necessary. Integrating insights from other fields, including economics, psychology, and sociology, and returning to the task of theory-building based on case-study research offer a promising path forward.

“Do not Disturb the Peace!” Identities, Livelihoods and the Politics of Post-War Discontent in Sierra Leone

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-553
Author(s):  
Fodei Batty ◽  
Fredline M’Cormack-Hale
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Order ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Post War

Although the collective memory of war is frequently invoked in post-war societies, who chooses to invoke it and to what effect has been less studied relative to other aspects of such societies. In this article we employ a case study of Sierra Leone to address this deficit in the post-conflict scholarship by illustrating how the collective memory of that country’s civil war is appropriated by diverse actors in the post-war society. Drawing from field interviews, we present evidence showing how, and why, several societal groups constituted as distinct post-war identities such as victims-rights groups, former defenders of the state, or perpetrators of the violence during the Sierra Leone civil war articulate dissatisfactions with their livelihoods and the reactions of state officials to their demands. The article explains why, and how, successive governments have selectively suppressed the discontent of some groups over livelihood insecurities that are construed as threats to public order while ignoring violent protests from other groups over similar issues, in spite of a 1965 public order act restricting protests. Thus, the article argues that state officials in Sierra Leone have not demonstrated superior commitment to peacebuilding than societal groups that make demands on the state.

scholarly journals Contract for Peace: Peace Agreements and its Security Implication

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Rajendra Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Negotiated Settlements ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Justice Process ◽  
Democratic Nation

Negotiated settlements have been increasingly accepted as the preferred way of ending civil wars. Studies show that only 50 percent of negotiated settlements last beyond five years, while in others, negotiated settlements have been shown to keep the peace for only three and half years. Contrary to this, the peace agreements/understandings were universally considered as the pivotal blue print for conflict transformation and peace buildings. In our case, the management of arms and armies, reintegration of few former rebels in the national army, promulgation of the constitution from the constituent assembly etc. are the crucial tasks of the peace process. In this context, this paper highlights the major peace agreements (2005-2010) reached between the then Communist Party of Nepal (CPN)-Maoist and the seven parliamentary party alliance’s government and simultaneously tries to analyze these agreements’ influence on security. The 12-point understanding of 2005 concluded in New Delhi is the guiding framework of the Nepalese peace process and has its geostrategic implication as well. Likewise, the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) of 2006 is a milestone in bringing about an end to the decade of old civil war and beginning an inclusive, secular, peaceful and democratic nation-building process. Despite everything, delaying the transitional justice process and staling the social reconciliation can be the potential reason for a reprisal of conflict

Third-party knowledge and success in civil war mediation

2020 ◽  
pp. 136914812093067
Author(s):  
Krista Wiegand ◽  
Erin Rowland ◽  
Eric Keels
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Probit Model ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Bivariate Probit Model ◽  
Negotiated Settlements ◽  
Peace Agreements

Within this article, we explore how third-party knowledge of ongoing conflicts shapes the ability of mediators to successfully end conflicts through negotiated settlements. Since the primary role of mediators is to share information, and combatants have incentives to misrepresent information, contextual knowledge about the conflict and actors is critical. We argue that experienced diplomats with greater knowledge of the civil war state, close knowledge of the combatants, and connections with civil society are less vulnerable and more effective in mediation efforts. We propose that third parties seeking a diplomatic solution to ongoing conflicts may be more successful when they maintain strong diplomatic knowledge of the disputants as well as knowledge of the processes by which previous mediation efforts have attempted to resolve the dispute. Using a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model on peace agreements from 1989 to 2005, we find strong support that diplomatic knowledge matters significantly.

From Civil Conflict to Crusade: Mobilisation and National Identity in the Spanish Civil War

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Mercedes Peñalba-Sotorrío
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
International Context ◽  
Post War ◽  
At Home

Abstract For decades after its conclusion, the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) was officially described by the newly imposed dictatorship as a Crusade. However, the appropriation of a mythologised medieval past was not just the product of post-war legitimisation. This article explores how, using “crusade” as a placeholder for Reconquista, the rebel army and its supporters responded to three distinct developments: a reaction to Republican anticlericalism; the imposition of a national identity in which Catholicism was understood as an essential element of Spanishness and the basis for its greatness; and a very practical need for popular mobilisation both at home and abroad. However, as this study demonstrates, the adoption of a crusading rhetoric and medieval mythology was a transnational development, in which distinct anti-Bolshevik campaigns, with origins in Rome and Spain, fed off each other and intersected, sometimes in intricate and hidden ways, within the increasingly polarised international context of the 1930s.

Is Coca Worth Killing For? Natural Resources and Civil Conflict Intensity: The Shining Path in Peru

1970 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willow Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Shining Path ◽  
Country Case Study ◽  
International Attention ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Conflict Intensity

This paper focuses on the effect natural resources have on the intensity ofcivil conflict in the context of states developing natural resource and counterinsurgency policies. This paper conducts a comparative within-country case study to test the relationship between natural resources and civil conflict intensity. Through a comparative within-country case study, the effect of coca cultivation on the intensity of Peru’s civil war is examined to test the hypothesis that natural resources cause more intense civil conflict. This hypothesis is deemed plausible, as evidence is used to test three causal mechanisms: natural resources provide insurgents with wealth, increase the “prize value” of a region, and draw more international attention and intervention. These mechanisms are confirmed for the case of Peru, and a fourth, and initially unexpected, mechanism emerges.

scholarly journals International Law and Humanitarian Intervention in the Syrian Civil War: The Role of the United States

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402091953
Author(s):  
Oluwaseyi Emmanuel Ogunnowo ◽  
Felix Chidozie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Syrian Civil War ◽  
Syrian Conflict

This article interrogates the legality of American interventions in the Syrian conflict. The Syrian civil war stands as one of the most controversial conflicts of the 21st century, owing to the mass destruction of lives and properties and the multiplicity of interventions which have created numerous strands of the conflict. The United States as one of the intervening powers has shown support for the rebel forces geared at toppling the Assad government. The research adopts the qualitative method and utilizes the case study research design. The research makes use of secondary data as derived from academic journals, books, book chapters, newspapers, and so on and analyzes these data through the use of thematic analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the interventions of the United States are not legal. The study also finds that the United States possesses certain strategic interests in the Syrian conflict which it aims to achieve.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document