Inter and intrastate conflicts nexus: The Colombian Peace process, as a means to prevent interstate conflicts in South America and rethink regional security

Abstract

The Colombian internal conflict case provides useful scenarios, realities and dynamics for nourishing the debate between those who treat internal and interstate conflicts as disconnected or totally independent phenomena and those who argue the frequent links between them. This policy paper is situated in the latter school of thought, and from that angle I shall argue the usefulness of perceiving the nexus between intrastate and interstate conflicts, and its applicability to the Colombian internal conflict. The paper highlights the importance of taking into account the strong nexus in order to prevent international disputes that put regional security at risk; it also suggests that the current Colombian peace process represents an historic opportunity for Colombia –and a great challenge for the Colombian society– while at the same time being an opportunity for thinking about a shared future in the South America region, which challenges the Colombian state and its performance at the international level.