Conclusion

Abstract

The closing chapter concludes the book by summarising the findings of the analysis into forty years of peacemaking and war experience in Northern Ireland and Turkey, and how these might be applied to other ethno-nationalist conflicts in which similar peace processes have been instituted. This chapter discusses the implications of the policies applied in the two specified conflicts for conflict resolution theory more broadly and lays out a framework for further research in the field. It argues that there is a complementarity between three major aspects of conflict resolution processes: backchannel communications, as the unofficial aspect; peace organisations, as the informal and semi-official aspect; and official negotiations, as the official aspect. The conflict resolution processes in these two cases encouraged the conflicting sides to consider talks and to enter into a negotiation process at the pre-negotiation stage. The processes then intended to reach a peace agreement during the negotiation stage. This book has suggested that a peace agreement requires mediation by an independent third party: between the British government and their adversaries, the IRA and the republican movement, in one case, and the Turkish government and their adversaries, the PKK and pro-Kurdish movement in the other.