Trust, forgiveness, and peace: The influence of adolescent social identity in a setting of intergroup conflict

Following the signing of peace agreements, post-accord societies often remain deeply divided across group lines. There is a need to identify antecedents of youth’s support for peace and establish more constructive intergroup relations. This article explored the effect of out-group trust, intergroup forgiveness, and social identity on support for the peace process among youth from the historic majority and minority communities in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The sample comprised 667 adolescents (49% male; M = 15.74, SD = 1.99 years old) across two time points. The results from the structural equation model suggested that out-group trust was related to intergroup forgiveness over time, while forgiveness related to later support for the peace process. Strength of in-group social identity differentially moderated how out-group trust and intergroup forgiveness related to later support for peace among youth from the conflict-related groups (i.e., Protestants and Catholics). Implications for consolidating peace in Northern Ireland are discussed, which may be relevant to other settings affected by intergroup conflict.

Beyond Reassurance: The Reputational Effect of Cultural Reforms in Peace Agreements

We explore whether including cultural reforms in an intra-state peace accord facilitates its success. We distinguish between accommodationist and integrationist cultural provisions and employ a mixed research method combining negative binomial regression on a data set of all intra-state political agreements concluded between 1989 and 2017, and an in-depth analysis of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for Northern Ireland. We recognize the important reassuring effect of accommodationist cultural reforms in separatist conflicts. However, we also find that they have an important and hitherto overlooked reputational effect across all conflict types. By enhancing the reputation of negotiating leaders, accommodationist cultural provisions contribute to ending violence by preventing leadership challenges, rebel fragmentation and remobilization across all civil conflicts. By the same logic, and despite the overwhelming emphasis of peace agreements on integrationist cultural initiatives, integrationist cultural reforms problematize leaders' ability to commit to pacts and to ensure compliance among their rank and file.

Climate Change and Violence in Post-Conflict Colombia

The aim is to explain the link between climate-related issues and violent patterns in Colombia after the 2016 peace agreements. The main premise is that the effects of an erratic climate has an indirect but relevant influence in the emergence of new forms of violence. In other words, the climatic change and environmental degradation act as a “stressor” in different forms of violence in this commodity-based economy recovering from more than 50 years of internal armed conflict. The qualitative approach is based on semi-structured interviews with government representatives and academics to track different perspectives. It is argued that key environmental and climate-related issues in new forms of conflict after the peace deal are linked to the fragmentary distribution and control of land, the ongoing forced migration patterns, and expansion of a new and more lucrative illicit economy.

How Peace Saves Lives? Evidence from Colombia

The victimization of civilians and combatants during internal conflicts causes large and persistent socioeconomic costs. Moreover, it is not clear whether peace negotiations can significantly reduce this burden, as some sources of harm persist well after conflicts end. This is the case of antipersonnel landmines, which are hidden underground and remain active for decades. Looking at the recent experience of Colombia, and using a difference-in-differences empirical strategy, we study the conditions under which peace agreements reduce landmine blasts and victimization. Our findings point to the importance of post-conflict information sharing and comprehensive humanitarian mine clearance campaigns.

Minorities Treaties and Mandatory Regimes

The post–World War I treaties of Versailles, Sèvres, and Lausanne collectively created two related frames for ongoing Allied control over unreliable territory: a system of “minority protection” in the new and fragile states of eastern Europe, and a neocolonial regime of externally monitored “mandates” in the Mashriq and elsewhere, with both systems falling under the jurisdiction of the newly constructed League of Nations based in Geneva. This article explores how the architects of the peace agreements developed the concepts of minority rights and mandatory responsibilities in conjunction, as a way of codifying, formalizing, and legitimizing restrictions on sovereignty along immovable racial lines.

Peace Agreements as International Legal Acts Protecting National Minorities: The Scope Ratione Personae

The issue of the protection of national minorities is regulated by acts of international law, frequently arising from international agreements that have been concluded to end armed conflicts or to regulate directly their consequences. Peace treaties concluded between states are governed by the rules set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. More and more peace agreements are, however, concluded by non-state actors. As indicated in Article 3 of the Convention, it cannot be excluded that these too would be international agreements, having effects in the sphere of international law. Such acts are concluded, inter alia, by insurgents or belligerents. In some cases, agreements ending non-international armed conflicts are concluded by domestic entities that are not subjects of international law. Such acts may reflect solutions that have been adopted as standards in international practice and in the provisions of international law. These do not necessarily have to be legally binding standards. They can also be framework solutions, including measures relating to the protection of national minorities, which are formulated and offered as proposals for specific regulations.