Implementation Of Peace Agreements Research Articles

Government ideology and the implementation of civil war peace agreements

ABSTRACT How does government ideology, measured by the ideology of the chief executive and the ideology of the largest government party, influence the implementation of civil war peace agreements? In this study, I address this research question by analysing the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) dataset that covers 34 comprehensive peace agreements of 31 countries from 1989 to 2015. The results of feasible generalised least squares (FGLS) regressions demonstrate that the likelihood of implementing peace agreements increases when chief executives and the largest government parties of the left-wing are in office. In contrast, the likelihood of implementing peace agreements decreases when chief executives and the largest government parties of the right-wing stay in power. Consistent with the party-policy literature and the hawkish-dovish assumptions, I find that left-wing governments positively impact the implementation of peace agreements more than right-wing governments, indicating the statistically significant relationship between the government ideology and the implementation of peace agreements.

Network analysis in peace and state building: revealing power elites

Abstract This paper examines the potential role of network analysis in understanding the powerful elites that pose a significant threat to peace and state-building within post-conflict contexts. This paper makes a threefold contribution. First, it identifies a caveat in the scholarship surrounding international interventions, shedding light on shortcomings in their design and implementation strategies, and elucidating the influence these elites wield in the political and economic realms. Next, it delineates the essentials of the network analysis approach, addressing the information and data requirements and limitations inherent in its application in conflict environments. Finally, the paper provides valuable insights gleaned from the international operation in Guatemala known as the International Commission for Impunity in Guatemala, which specifically targeted illicit networks. The argument asserts that network analysis functions as a dual-purpose tool—serving as both a descriptive instrument to reveal, identify, and address the root causes of conflict and a predictive tool to enhance peace agreement implementation and improve decision-making. Simultaneously, it underscores the challenge of data analysis and translating network interventions into tangible real-life consequences for long-lasting results.

Settlement agreement in civil and economic proceedings: a comparative aspect of research

The article is devoted to a comparative legal study of the institution of a settlement agreement in the fields of civil procedural and economic procedural law.
 The significance of the settlement agreement in civil and economic processes is highlighted. It is stated that when concluding and approving a settlement agreement, the parties independently choose a way out of the conflict situation, and the court is freed from the obligation to consider the merits of the case for which proceedings have already been opened. The settlement agreement encourages the parties to voluntarily fulfill their obligations, reducing the burden on enforcement agencies. Therefore, the right to conclude a settlement agreement in civil and commercial proceedings is an important procedural tool that contributes to the successful protection of the rights and interests of the parties to the dispute, as well as relieves the court's work in considering court cases.
 A comparison of the normative and legal regulation of the settlement agreement by the norms of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine and the Economic Procedure Code of Ukraine is carried out. The purpose of the settlement agreement, the entities that have the right to conclude it, the procedure for approving the settlement agreement by the court, the caveats regarding the impossibility of concluding a settlement agreement and the procedural consequences generated by the settlement agreement are studied. The uniformity of the regulation of the specified issues by both procedural codes is noted.
 The changes related to the implementation of peace agreements are analyzed and the position of the legislator to equally solve the existing problems in this area is approved, since enforcement proceedings act as a common procedure for court cases of many court jurisdictions.
 On the other hand, the peculiarity of the regulation of the settlement agreement in economic proceedings, compared to civil proceedings, is noted. Attention is paid to the settlement agreement concluded in the bankruptcy case, which, although it is considered according to the rules of legal proceedings, nevertheless differs in its uniqueness, which affects the possibilities of closing the proceedings according to the concluded settlement agreement.
 It is concluded that the norms regulating the settlement agreement in the civil and economic process, despite minor differences, are included in the institute, which has an interdisciplinary nature. The similar nature of its legal norms requires unified management through the coordinated application of changes to the legal system by the legislator.

Introducing the Mapping Attitudes, Perceptions and Support (MAPS) dataset on the Colombian peace process

This article introduces the Mapping Attitudes, Perceptions and Support (MAPS) dataset, which provides rich survey data from more than 12,000 respondents in Colombia. Our panel survey – carried out in two separate waves in 2019 and 2021 – is representative at the level of each ‘Program for Development with a Territorial Focus’ (PDET, for its acronym in Spanish), the most war-affected regions and those targeted for peace agreement implementation. We describe the sample and compare support for the peace agreement in MAPS to other recent surveys in Colombia, showing how MAPS reveals regional variation obscured in nationally representative surveys. Regression analyses illustrate how the panel data allow us to explore how and why people’s perceptions of the agreement shift over time. The MAPS data will enable scholars to gain insights into the microfoundations of peacebuilding over time and across space.

The Role of The United Nations in Promoting Conflict Resolution in The Escalation of Intrastate Mali Conflict Instability (2018- 2022)

The instability of the conflict in Mali has increased for four years since 2018. The increase in violence, military coups, political instability, humanitarian crises, and terrorism has forced the United Nations to increase its strength in pushing for the implementation of peace agreements in the Mali intrastate conflict. This research was conducted using qualitative methods with secondary data to see the role of the United Nations in encouraging the resolution of the intrastate conflict in Mali during the period of instability for the last four years. In the analysis, this study finds that through a mandate renewed every year, the United Nations adopts its role to encourage conflict resolution with the dynamics of conflicts from 2018 to 2022. Over the past four years, the role of the United Nations as an international organization to encourage the implementation of resolutions to the conflict in Mali focuses on several things, namely; (1) Overseeing Mali’s political transition, (2) Strengthening security for civilians and peacekeepers through international cooperation, (3) Acting as government assistance to promote human rights and law enforcement, and (4) Encouraging the progress of the 2015 peace agreement in Mali to achieve the maximum target. Keywords: Conflict Resolution, Intrastate Conflict, International Organization, Mali, United Nations

Caring is sharing: Why independent commissions in post-conflict societies have power-sharing arrangements

The inclusion of conflict parties in independent commissions through power-sharing has been found to reduce the reoccurrence of conflict. Yet, the theoretical and empirical literature explaining why independent commissions include power-sharing is very limited. Previous publications have focused on in-depth case studies that explain how power-sharing prevents conflict recurrence in specific post-conflict societies but do not provide a general argument or widescale testing beyond individual case studies. This article provides a new systematic, general theoretical argument and novel empirical testing that explains why there is power-sharing on some commissions but not others. We argue that conflict parties adopt power-sharing provisions in independent commissions because doing so allows them to overcome significant credible commitments problems that are inherent to the ending of intrastate conflict. Using a new and comprehensive dataset, Independent Commissions in Post-Conflict Societies, which includes information on 580 commissions (1990–2016), this article applies a combination of decision trees and regression analysis to test our hypotheses. The findings indicate that power-sharing is adopted where credible commitment problems are acute and show that commissions working on political or security issues and those with monitoring or verification roles, or that work on the implementation of peace agreements, are more likely to include power-sharing arrangements.

Leadership Changes and Civil War Peace Agreements: Does Who Comes to Power Influence the Implementation?

ABSTRACT Why is the implementation of civil war peace agreements comparatively higher in some countries than in other countries? In this study, I address this puzzle by investigating the effects of insider-outsider leader turnover on the execution of peace agreements. The idea is that leaders should be the fundamental units of analysis to explain the implementation of peace agreements due to more frequent leadership changes than state-level variables, such as the level of democracy, political system, military capability, and GDP per capita. Besides, leader turnover poses a commitment problem in peace processes if outsider leaders differ in their resolve and revise inherited agreements. I test this hypothesis quantitatively using feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) regressions to analyze the panel dataset of this research that covers 34 comprehensive peace agreements of 31 countries from 1989 to 2015. The findings of this study demonstrate the positive impacts of insider leader turnover and the adverse effects of outsider leader turnover on the execution of peace agreements. Hence, whether the implementation of peace agreements will continue depends on who comes to power.

Peace Agreement Implementation (PAI): What Matters? A Review of the Literature

Objective/Context: Much of the research on conflict resolution has focused on the conditions for getting parties involved in a conflict to sign a peace agreement. Less attention has been paid to what happens next. In this document, we offer a review of the factors shaping peace agreement implementation (PAI). Methodology: The paper is based on a review of the available academic literature on the factors that shape peace agreement implementation (PAI). Conclusions: We conceive the implementation process as composed of multiple temporal stages (short- to long-term), layers (from international to local), and dimensions (including politics, justice, the economy, and culture). In an implementation phase, all these need to be addressed in parallel, as they exert mutual impact and shape each other’s progress. Originality: The general overview presented here will provide scholars and policymakers with a broad sense of the most important debates within the literature.

WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN NIGERIA

Women are effective change agents, and diversity and gender parity in leadership and decision-making are increasingly acknowledged in all walks of life. Women still make up a very small percentage of those who make decisions in politics, business, and society. Laws, judgements and determinations tend to become more inclusive and representative, incorporating a diverse range of perspectives when women play a meaningful and active role in leadership positions within institutions like the legislature, judiciary and executive boards. When women take on leadership positions in their households, including decisions regarding land and household money, it improves their families' access to education and healthcare. Income inequality is lower in countries where a higher proportion of women hold significant legislative positions. When women are actively involved in the formation and implementation of peace agreements, they have a 35 % greater chance of lasting at least 15 years. It has been shown that when women hold more executive positions, companies see higher profitability. Enterprises in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams outperform the national average by 21 %. Nigerian companies scored better than the global average in the participation of women in the workforce. The average percentage of women at the executive level is 20 per cent which is higher than the global average of 17 per cent. Furthermore, the average percentage of women at the board level is 23 per cent, which is close to the average of 25 per cent globally. Participation of women in politics and leadership positions in Nigeria will be examined in comparison with other African countries, showing the challenges limiting such participation and recommend steps that could be taken to ensure better representation.

Verification of Peace Accords and Military Expenditures in Post-Conflict Societies

ABSTRACT Why is it that some governments ending a civil war in a negotiated settlement succeed in reducing military spending while others fail? Civil wars ending in peace agreements result in relatively low military expenditures; however, not all governments succeed in the reduction. I argue that implementing a third-party verification mechanism of peace accords helps reduce military spending in post-conflict societies because the verification mechanism facilitates the peace accord implementation by enabling reciprocal implementation and by increasing the cost of noncompliance through active information flow. Implementation of peace agreements reduces threats posed by both former and outside rebel groups. This makes the government decrease the military expenditure allocated to appease internal security threats. I tested this argument using 32 civil wars with a comprehensive peace agreement between 1992 and 2011. The results indicate that initiating a verification mechanism leads to lower military spending.

New avenues in peace implementation research: actors, geolocation, and time

ABSTRACT Comparative peace processes research shows how the success of peace agreement implementation contributes to durable quality peace in societies emerging out of violent conflict. Less widely discussed in this peace implementation research are three core components: the various actors involved in the peace implementation, the location of implementation activities, and the temporal dimensions involved in the implementation process. While peace process actors receive some attention within the top-down and bottom-up and inclusion and exclusion debates in peacebuilding research, discussions are sparse on the geolocation of peace implementation and implementation timing. By showing how these three components – peace process actors, geolocation, and time – interact with each other, this article makes the case for these three components to build a holistic understanding of and diverse perspectives on the peace implementation process. Information specific to actors, geolocation, and time involving the peace implementation process helps generate and address new research puzzles and thus advance our understanding of the peace implementation process while providing new insights for policymakers and peacebuilding practitioners.

Pathways of post-conflict violence in Colombia

ABSTRACT Violence in post-conflict settings is often attributed to a post-war boom in organized crime, facilitated by the demobilization of armed groups and the persisting weakness of the state. The article argues that this is only one pathway of post-conflict violence. A second causal pathway emerges from the challenges that peace processes can constitute for entrenched local political orders. By fostering political inclusion, the implementation of peace agreements may threaten subnational political elites that have used the context of armed conflict to ally with armed non-state actors. Violence is then used as a means to preserve such de facto authoritarian local orders. We start from the assumption that these two explanations are not exclusive or competing, but grasp different causal processes that may well both be at work behind the assassination of social leaders (líderes sociales) in Colombia since the 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla. We argue that this specific type of targeted violence can, in fact, be attributed to different, locally specific configurations that resemble the two pathways. The article combines fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis with the case studies of the municipalities of Sardinata and Suárez to empirically establish and illustrate the two pathways.

Conceptualising the transformative justice potential of peace processes

ABSTRACT Proponents of transformative justice articulate an approach to dealing with the past that seeks to change pre-conflict structures in ways that make society more inclusive and equal in the future. However, a criticism arises that transformative justice has been better at diagnosing the limitations associated with transitional justice rather than defining solutions and pathways to achieve its primary objectives. This paper examines the potential for peace agreement processes- understood to comprise peace agreements, peace negotiations, and peace agreement implementation- to advance the core aims transformative justice. In theory, peace agreement processes offer a sense of tangibility to the transformative justice project, existing as critical junctures where the underpinnings of structural violence can be addressed. At the same time, transformative justice offers a lens through which to interrogate the actuality of peace agreement processes, highlighting the challenges associated with realising their transformative justice potential in practice. The paper ultimately argues that greater attention could be paid to the potentially mutually reinforcing relationship between peace agreements and transformative justice.

Examining the Prospects of Consociational Power Sharing as a Conflict Resolution Strategy in South Sudan

Abstract South Sudan has not escaped the world’s attention even after the signing of the infamous Revitalized Peace Agreement in September 2018 that for the 12th time brought the two antagonists – Kiir and Dr. Machar – to the negotiation table since the conflict began in 2013. Even with the aura of a shaky peace, the main question is whether the new agreement will stand the test of time going by the history of the failed implementation of peace agreements. This paper recognizes the vital nature of the prevailing peace and questions about whether consociational democracy can be propped up during this period of relative peace. Discussions are hinged on the consociationalism theory that contains a broad array of principles, including power sharing, requisite for consociational democracy. It argues that although South Sudan’s context could favor consociational democracy, there are several barriers characterizing Sudan’s social and political spheres that should be alleviated. We elucidate on the barriers and suggest in broad strokes the need for strong independent institutions and vibrant civil society amongst others. We also recognize that overreliance on individuals in resolving the conflict is detrimental to the young nation, and there is a need for a citizen-centered approach that entrenches consociational principles in South Sudan’s political sphere.

Examining the Prospects of Consociational Power-Sharing as a Conflict Resolution Strategy in South Sudan

South Sudan has not escaped the world’s attention even after the signing of the infamous Revitalized Peace Agreement in September 2018 that for the 12th time brought the two antagonists –Kiir and Dr. Machar to the negotiation table since the conflict began in 2013. Even with the aura of a shaky peace, the main question is whether the new agreement will stand the test of time going by the history of the failed implementation of peace agreements. This paper recognizes the vital nature of the prevailing peace and questions about whether consociational democracy can be propped up during this period of relative peace. Discussions are hinged on the consociationalism theory that contains a broad array of principles, including power sharing, requisite for consociational democracy. It argues that although South Sudan’s context could favor consociational democracy, there are several barriers characterizing Sudan’s social and political spheres that should be alleviated. We elucidate on the barriers and suggest in broad strokes the need for strong independent institutions and vibrant civil society amongst others. We also recognize that overreliance on individuals in resolving the conflict is detrimental to the young nation, and there is a need for a citizen-centered approach that entrenches consociational principles in South Sudan’s political sphere.

Analysis of the Role of the Supervision Task Force of the North Sumatra Province Cooperatives and SMEs Office in Supervising Savings and Loans Cooperatives

Cooperatives are part of the economic structure, this means that in their activities cooperatives take part in achieving a prosperous economy, both for people who are members of the association itself and for the surrounding community. This research uses descriptive qualitative research with secondary data collection techniques using interview, observation, and documentation techniques. The results of the author's research found that the obstacles faced in carrying out the supervisory task force at the cooperative and UKM service in the province of North Sumatra in supervising problematic savings and loan cooperatives were: 1. Cooperatives were less coopera tive in reporting the progress of the peace agreement implementation process to its members. 2. Mismatch of payments in terms of timeliness and nominal payments to cooperative members in accordance with the peace agreement scheme. 3. Disagreements of some members who do not agree to peace but are still bound by the peace agreement. 4. There are summons by law enforcement officers against members and administrators who hinder the peace process. 5. The process of asset liquidity is hampered for the purpose of paying cooperative obligations to members due to economic conditions due to the pandemic

Lockdown on Peace? COVID-19’s Impact on Women Peacebuilders

Abstract COVID-19 threatens to slow progress on the implementation of peace agreements, and reverse hard-won gains of women peacebuilders’ work towards holistic, gender-equal peace, rooted in human security. Through an analysis of in-depth interviews from a purposive sample of women peacebuilders in Colombia, South Sudan, the Philippines, and Ukraine, this article contributes to a greater understanding of the pandemic’s impact on women’s peace activism, as these peacebuilders adapted to emerging realities and became first responders. We argue that the pandemic has deepened the marginalization of women peacebuilders from formal peace processes, possibly to detriment of both immediate recovery and long-term peacebuilding.

Examining the Prospects of Consociational Power Sharing as a Conflict Resolution Strategy in South Sudan

South Sudan has not escaped the world’s attention even after the signing of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) in September 2018. This agreement brought the main antagonists— President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Dr Riek Machar—to the negotiation table for the twelfth time since the conflict began in 2013. Even with the aura of a shaky peace, the main question is whether the new agreement will stand the test of time in light of the history of the failed implementation of peace agreements. This paper recognises the vital nature of the prevailing peace and examines whether consociational democracy can be propped up during this period of relative peace. The discussion hinges on consociationalism theory that contains a broad array of principles, including power sharing, requisite for consociational democracy. We argue that although South Sudan’s context could favour consociational democracy, there are several barriers characterising Sudan’s social and political spheres that should be alleviated. We elucidate on the barriers and suggest in broad strokes the need for strong independent institutions and vibrant civil society amongst others. We also recognise that overreliance on individuals in resolving the conflict is detrimental to the young nation, and there is a need for a citizen-centred approach that entrenches consociational principles in South Sudan’s political sphere.

Cheap talk or costly commitment? Leader statements and the implementation of civil war peace agreements

This article examines how leaders affect the implementation of peace agreements. It argues that implementation is more likely when leaders have publicly committed to peace because public commitments tie leaders’ hands, making it costly to back down from peaceful promises. This effect is hypothesized to hold even under conditions that make implementation costly: when implementing difficult provisions, when spoiler risk is high, and when implementation is unreciprocated. These expectations are tested using novel data from the IPAD dataset on the implementation of peace agreements between 1989 and 2014 and on public statements by state and rebel leaders. Results show that governments and rebel groups whose leaders have publicly committed to peace are significantly more likely to make progress toward implementation. This effect holds for difficult provisions, when spoiler risk is high, and when implementation is unreciprocated. These findings highlight the importance of leaders’ political will for successful implementation of peace agreements and sustainable peace.

State Building and Peace Agreement Implementation

ABSTRACT It is often argued that rebuilding state capacity following intrastate conflict will serve to stabilize the post-conflict environment. Past scholarship has sought to formally model the effect of rising state capacity.  Yet, two models of post-conflict environments produce conflicting expectations for the effect of state capacity on the commitment problem and the prospect for peace agreement implementation. This project summarizes the core logic of the two models, compares and contrasts their assumptions, and derives a set of hypotheses about the implementation of peace agreements. These hypotheses are tested using data from the Peace Accords Matrix. The empirical findings indicate that increases in military capacity are associated with lower levels of peace agreement implementation. However, increases in state capacity related to the rule of law are associated with higher levels of implementation. The starting level of coercive and administrative capacity appears to be uncorrelated with the degree to which peace agreements are implemented. This finding points to a possible early warning for peace agreement breakdown. Likewise, it suggests that state building may be less a driver of post-conflict success than it is a manifestation of the preferences of key actors.