Peace Agreement Research Articles

Peace Versus Profit: Rebel Fragmentation and Conflict Resurgence in Colombia

Abstract Why do rebel splinter groups emerge during peace processes, and who chooses to defect? Since Colombia's landmark peace agreement with the FARC in 2016, roughly half of the territory once controlled by the group has seen a resurgence of rebel activity by FARC splinter groups. I argue that the FARC's return to arms is a case of “middle-out fragmentation,” whereby opportunities for profit induce mid- or low-ranking rebel commanders to establish splinter groups. In Colombia, I argue that profits from the cocaine trade incentivized local-level FARC officers to defect from the peace agreement and allowed them to rapidly mobilize viable splinter groups. I offer several lines of evidence for this argument. I first construct a chronology of splinter group formation, which demonstrates that mid- and low-level commanders, rather than high-level commanders, were the key drivers of fragmentation. Second, I show that splinter groups emerged in areas where opportunities for profit were greatest. Among areas previously controlled by the FARC, those with coca cultivation prior to the peace agreement were up to thirty-seven percentage points more likely to see splinter groups emerge by 2020 than areas without significant production. Using soil and weather conditions to instrument for coca cultivation produces similar results. Further, I use a novel measure of how critical each municipality is to drug trafficking to show that areas that are theoretically most important for drug trafficking are also more likely to see FARC resurgence. I also address competing explanations related to state capacity, terrain, and popular support for the rebels. These findings highlight an important challenge to peacebuilding: satisfying the political demands of rebel leadership is a necessary but insufficient component of peace agreements in cases where opportunities for profit motivate fragmentation from the middle out.

Post-War Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka: A Unique Path to Peace Building

This study examines the unique aspects of Sri Lanka’s peacebuilding and ethnic reconciliation process following the end of its civil war in 2009. Unlike many post-conflict societies that rely on formal peace agreements, Sri Lanka's reconciliation efforts were driven by a military victory without a negotiated settlement between conflicting parties. This study discusses key milestones in Sri Lanka’s reconciliation journey, including institutional reforms such as the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and the Office of Missing Persons (OMP). It examines the unique challenges, including political dominance in the process, limited engagement of minority communities, and inconsistencies in policy frameworks. The study provides a comprehensive understanding of the factors that have shaped Sri Lanka's reconciliation approach by drawing on qualitative data from key informant interviews (KII) and through a comparative analysis with global post-conflict practices. Ultimately, this study offers valuable insights for policymakers and scholars on the complexities of peacebuilding in unique post-conflict settings, highlighting the need for more inclusive and sustainable efforts to achieve lasting peace.

North Africa in the Foreign Policy of Catherine II

The 18th century represented a transformative era for the Russian Empire, characterized by substantial internal reforms and notable foreign policy achievements. Amidst sweeping modernization efforts, Russia secured significant victories on the international stage. Under Peter I, Russia "opened a window" to Europe, while Catherine II's reign expanded Russia's geopolitical reach to the Black Sea, facilitating access to fertile southern territories and establishing crucial maritime routes for international trade. These strategic advancements considerably enhanced Russia's influence and strategic capacities. During Catherine II’s reign, Russia also initiated its first forays into North Africa, a region previously beyond the empire's strategic horizon. Prior to gaining maritime access to the Black and Mediterranean Seas, Russian interaction with North African territories was negligible. However, the geopolitical landscape of Catherine's era prompted the necessity of engaging with Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Tripoli.This article investigates the principal foreign policy initiatives of Russia toward North Africa during the latter half of the 18th century. These efforts served as ancillary operations to Russia's overarching conflict with the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the Russo-Turkish Wars, Russia exploited separatist movements within the Ottoman periphery to weaken its adversary strategically. In times of peace, Russian priorities shifted to safeguarding merchant vessels in the Mediterranean from attacks by Barbary corsairs—specifically from Tunisia, Algeria, and Tripoli. To mitigate these threats, Russia employed diplomatic pressure on the Sublime Porte and sought to negotiate peace agreements with North African states. Nevertheless, these early Russian engagements in North Africa were tentative and often marked by limited success and instances of diplomatic adventurism, leaving several initiatives unrealized.Utilizing archival documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI) and the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA), this article provides a detailed examination of Russia’s diplomatic decision-making and negotiations with North African states. While prior Russian and foreign scholarship has analyzed specific events and countries in this context, this study seeks to offer a more holistic understanding of Russia’s foreign policy objectives and actions in North Africa during the 18th century.

AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SECURITY COOPERATION AS A PATHWAY TO PEACE AND RECONCILIATION BETWEEN COUNTRIES

Peace and ways to achieve it have always been among the most important concerns of mankind. The age of war and peace is tied to human history. Food has been a human need since the beginning, and agriculture and food production have been integral throughout human history. There have been many wars over food, food resources, and agriculture. However, the question addressed in this article is how to make food and agriculture a means to achieve peace. This has happened in the past, either after improving relationships between countries from enmity to friendship or, more rarely, during a time of transformation. There is still the possibility that this approach could become a component of peace agreements, making them stronger. Considering that no two cases are ever completely similar in historical events and human sciences, it is possible to propose a new theory or suggestion by examining the most correlations.

Israeli War Crimes in Palestine from the Perspective of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, marked by alleged war crimes against the Palestinian people, is rooted in a long and complex history. Despite numerous ceasefire agreements and peace negotiations, the conflict remains unresolved, often due to unilateral violations attributed to Israel. This research aims to analyze these war crimes within the framework of human rights and international humanitarian law. Using a normative legal research method and a literature study approach, the study reveals that Israel has repeatedly violated key principles of international humanitarian law, specifically military necessity, humanity, and proportionality. Incidents, such as the use of white phosphorus bombs and blockades on humanitarian aid, have intensified the conflict and are found to contravene the 1949 Geneva Convention. These actions amount to war crimes, severe human rights violations, and acts of genocide. The implications of this research underline the urgent need for accountability and adherence to international law to prevent further human rights abuses and promote lasting peace in the region.

Conceptualisations of peace, its benefits, and strategies related to political orientation among Colombians

Political orientation has been shown to affect the opinions of ordinary people when it comes to socio-political issues. In Colombia, 74% of citizens indicated that they did not identify with any political party; however, opinions against and in favour of peace and its processes are characterised by a dynamic of constant tension among citizens, similar to that among the country’s political parties: left, right, and centre. The purpose of the present study was to identify conceptualisations about peace, its benefits, and the strategies to achieve it after the peace agreement signed in 2016 between the government and the FARC guerrilla based on the political orientation reported by the participants. Textual data were analysed using KH-Coder software to identify co-occurrence networks of peace conceptualisations, benefits, and strategies. A total of 346 men and women participated in the study. Results show differences among the conceptualisations of peace and the peacebuilding process among supporters of each political orientation, including apolitical participants, although right-wing participants were the most differentiated. Results are discussed.

After Pyrrhos

The paper examines the relations between the Antigonids and the Aiakids during the forty years after the death of Pyrrhos (272) until the fall of the Molossian monarchy in the late 230s. Alexander II and a few of his successors ruled in Epeiros at that time; Antigonos II Gonatas and his son Demetrios II reigned in Macedonia. The main concerns of this article are a supposed peace treaty between the Antigonids and the Aiakids in 272 (and who signed it from the Epeirote side), the military conflict between Alexander II and the Antigonids during the Chremonidean War, the recognition of the asylia of the Koan Asklepieion by Gonatas and Alexander II as well as by their subjects, and the marriage of Demetrios II to Phthia (its date, especially in the light of the Athenian decrees in honor of the grain-controllers, and the lengthy controversy concerning the identification of the mother of Philip V). Some other topics are also considered.

Declining Support for the 2016 Colombia Peace Accord: Colombian Attitudes Toward Peace and Transitional Justice

Declining Support for the 2016 Colombia Peace Accord: Colombian Attitudes Toward Peace and Transitional Justice

Intersectionality and women's participation in peace negotiations

Abstract The Women, Peace and Security resolutions have consistently called for women's increased participation at all levels in institutions and mechanisms for preventing, managing and resolving conflict. Despite a long history of feminist interventions to disrupt categories of gender as a stagnant, ahistorical or geographically consistent structure, rationales for women's inclusion continue to rest on problematic narratives and assumptions. We draw on twenty-nine interviews with practitioners whom we asked to speak about their experiences in peace negotiations and the expectations placed on women involved in these processes. The problematic narratives and assumptions we identify on the basis of these interviews and academic literature have the effect of diminishing women's agency and, thus, their ability to participate in peace negotiations on their terms. Women contribute positively to the durability of peace and the inclusion of gender provisions in agreements. Still, when women's identities are constructed as one-dimensional, the benefits of women's inclusion remain paradoxically a cause for celebration and a partial gain. In this article, we apply theories of intersectionality, informed by Black and African feminisms, to expose women's subject positions that may be made invisible because of assumptions that continue to be associated with calls for women's participation in peace negotiations.

Termination of Prosecution Based on Restorative Justice in Indonesia it is Associated with the Renewal Criminal Law

Criminal acts arise from various aspects of human activity, including the political, social and economic spheres. The success of law enforcement is traditionally measured by the ability to bring criminals to justice and impose appropriate penalties. However, in certain minor cases, such as theft, embezzlement, and fraud with minimal losses, the public questions the need for prosecution, as they believe that prosecution does not match the seriousness of the offense. The purpose of this study is to analyze the implications and effectiveness of prosecution discontinuation based on restorative justice in the Indonesian legal framework. Using a qualitative research approach, this study examines the regulatory structure and practical application of restorative justice in Indonesia. Data was collected through document analysis and interviews with legal practitioners to explore alignment of regulations with legal principles and community expectations. The research findings show that, although restorative justice offers a viable avenue to achieve peace between offenders and victims, its implementation in Indonesia is still limited, as it is not yet embedded in the broader criminal law system. Currently, peace agreements between the parties are only considered as a mitigating factor in the sentencing process. This research suggests that stronger legal legitimacy for restorative justice, such as the inclusion of restorative justice into the Draft Criminal Procedure Code is essential to adapt to the evolving legal culture and public expectations. The implications of this research highlight the need for comprehensive criminal law reform to ensure justice that aligns with societal values and contemporary legal standards.

From Conflict to Cooperation: Norwegian Labour Market Institutions in the Making

Moving a relationship of widespread conflicts and distrust into a virtuous circle of trust and cooperation is challenging, yet the case examined in this article shows that it is possible. A problematic start can indeed lead to a positive outcome. In the early twentieth century, Norway experienced the highest levels of labour conflict in Europe. Class conflicts were intense and often violent, with deep mistrust between the parties in the labour market. This situation changed markedly when the Norwegian Employers’ Confederation and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions signed the Basic Agreement in 1935. This agreement not only led to a lasting decline in labour conflicts, but it also marked a crucial early step towards a system of close collaboration between labour and capital in Norway. By focusing on the intimate relationship between beliefs, trust, and cooperation, this article explores how the labour market parties transitioned from widespread conflict and open struggle to a system of peaceful negotiations and compromises. Changes in beliefs enabled the parties to coordinate on a new cooperative equilibrium, an equilibrium that continues to characterise Norway’s labour market today.

Do apologies promote the reintegration of former combatants? Lessons from a video experiment in Colombia

Transitional justice practices frequently involve public apologies where former combatants confess their wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness, with the underlying assumption that such displays facilitate the reintegration of ex-combatants into society. However, little is known about the public response to ex-combatant apologies. In this article, we investigate the causal effect of an armed group apology on attitudes toward ex-combatant reintegration in Colombia. Our study builds on a novel experiment implemented in Meta, a conflict-ridden department of Colombia. The experiment entailed exposing a subset of participants to a video in which a former rebel group leader apologizes for violent acts committed by their armed group during the civil war. To examine the extent to which external actors influence the effectiveness of apologies, we incorporated third-party ‘encouragements to forgive’ (endorsements) in two additional treatment conditions. Our analysis demonstrates that, on average, participants do not exhibit higher reintegration attitudes when exposed to the apology, regardless of third-party endorsements. However, the absence of a treatment effect is not due to an indifference to the apology. In an exploratory heterogeneity analysis, we show that the apology induces negative effects on some indicators of reintegration attitudes among participants that did not support the peace agreement. This finding aligns with qualitative data gathered in a follow-up survey, which indicates that opponents of the peace agreement generally describe negative emotional responses to the FARC-EP apology. The results call for a reconsideration of unchallenged prescriptions of public apologies after conflict.

Դոհայի համաձայնագիրը ԱՄՆ–Աֆղանստան հարաբերություններում նոր շրջափուլի թևակոխման սկիզբ / The Doha Agreement as the Beginning of a New Period in US-Afghanistan Relations

On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement to establish peace in Afghanistan, which became widely known as the Doha Agreement. This agreement marked the end of one of the largest and bloodiest conflicts of the 21st century, the Afghan Civil War. The Doha Agreement is crucial to consider within the context of Afghan transitions, as well as the signing and content of the agreement itself, which became a turning point for the future of Afghanistan and its people, signaling the end of the long-standing presence of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Doha Agreement is based on four key points: the withdrawal of American and coalition forces, the Taliban's commitment to conduct counter-terrorism operations, the initiation of intra-Afghan negotiations, and the establishment of a comprehensive and long-lasting peace. The Doha Agreement became a turning point in U.S. foreign policy, though it did not lead to long-term peace in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, it marked the beginning of a reevaluation of U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand, the agreement is also significant because the U.S. engaged in peace negotiations and signed an agreement with the Sunni extremist group known as the Taliban, which, to this day, it does not recognize as the official ruling force in Afghanistan.

Amnesties as a means of encouraging transition and strengthening the application of IHL in Colombia: The case of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace

Abstract Bearing in mind that the peace process between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo, FARC-EP) has been an important milestone for transitional justice, this article aims to share some of the good practices and achievements of this process, as well as the setbacks and challenges that could be avoided in future peace processes. The article will highlight relevant contributions from the Chamber for Amnesty or Pardon (CAP) such as impacting the resocialization of former FARC-EP members and developing international humanitarian law discussions in relation to war crimes and less serious crimes. Additionally, it will describe some of the main challenges faced by the CAP, such as the high number of applications for transitional benefits that it receives, the high number of proceedings that it supervises, and the security concerns arising from implementing a peace agreement in a country still in conflict.

La Construcción y consolidación de la paz: acciones en el marco de la responsabilidad social de las mipymes en colombia

This article is the result of one of the objectives formulated in the research project, developed between the Minuto de Dios University Corporation - UNIMINUTO, Bogotá headquarters, the ITM Higher Education Institution of Medellín and the National Institute of Professional Technical Training - INFOTEP of San Juan del César (La Guajira), which seeks to propose Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies for MSME that encourage the linkage of these organizations to peace-building actions from the territory. It starts from the question: What are the actions within the framework of social responsibility, carried out by MSME, that enable the construction and consolidation of Peace in their territories? The reference places, the Metropolitan Area of Medellín, the municipality of San Juan del César and the municipality of Aguazul (Casanare), were taken into account as analysis scenarios. The topic of Social Responsibility for MSME is framed, in an analytical and descriptive manner, in the components presented by the ISO 26000 standard (ISO, 2010), and the lines of action formulated in the 2016 Peace agreement between the government of President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos and the extinct FARC Guerrilla (today the Comunes party) in Colombia. Based on the findings obtained, the business actions that are formulated in a CSR Plan must seek to deepen their relationship with the environment, positively impacting a stable and lasting construction of peace.

Transitional Justice in Colombia: A Systematic Literature Review

Transitional justice in Colombia has evolved, reflecting the political, social, and academic changes in the country. This study is a systematic review of the literature through articles indexed in Web of Science, applying the PRISMA protocol. Out of 3819 articles published in the last five years (2019-2024), 109 articles were selected following strict exclusion criteria. The methodology includes a quantitative analysis complemented with the visual analysis tool Posit PBC™ for bibliometric analysis in Biblioshyni. The study addresses the research question on the evolution of the main research interests in the field of Transitional Justice in Colombia. The results show that initially, analyses on transitional justice focused on documenting the atrocities of the armed conflict, with a focus on truth and reparation, grounding legal mechanisms such as the Justice and Peace Law of 2005; with the 2016 Peace Agreement, research expanded into more complex issues, including the interaction between transitional justice and development, and the importance of civil society and victim engagement. The inclusion of the gender perspective, particularly after the 2016 Peace Agreement, led to studies on how women and LGBTI+ communities were differentially affected by the conflict. In addition, recent research has focused on the comparison between the peace processes with the AUC and the FARC-EP, analyzing the differences in their transitional justice frameworks and the challenges of implementing these agreements in a context of persistent violence.

Tinjauan Yuridis terhadap Penyelesaian Sengketa Tanah di Jakarta Barat

T Land dispute resolution is a complex issue in Indonesia, especially in urban areas such as West Jakarta. These disputes often involve the sale and purchase of the land in question, as in case Number 59/Pdt.G/2023/PN Jkt.Brt. This study aims to analyze juridically the settlement of land disputes and how they are implemented in the Indonesian legal system. The method used in this study is normative legal research that focuses on literature review. The results of the study show that the implementation of mediation as one of the dispute resolution methods provides equal justice for both parties, and can result in a peace agreement that has legal force. The conclusion of this study is that the mediation mechanism has great potential in resolving land disputes more effectively than the litigation route.

Belarusization in Russian Regions in the 1920s in Modern Russian Historiography

The article presents a historiographical review of publications on the policy of Belarusization carried out in the Russian regions in the 1920s. This work does not address the publications of Belarusian and foreign researchers on the practice of implementing the new Soviet national policy within the territorial borders of the Belarusian Republic. The main attention is paid to the three Russian provinces bordering Belarus – Pskov, Smolensk and Bryansk. At the same time, the eastern territories of the RSFSR – the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East, where Belarusians found themselves as a result of the resettlement policy, especially at the beginning of the 20th century during the Stolypin agrarian reform, were not ignored. Belarusization, as part of the general policy of Korenization, proclaimed in 1923 at the XII Congress of the Russian Communist Party (b), in modern research is closely linked to the need to show new principles and directions of Soviet national policy for the development of Belarusian statehood and culture in contrast to the all-out polonization carried out by the Pilsudski government in Western Ukrainian and Belarusian lands ceded to Poland by the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921. A significant role in this process was assigned to the expansion of the state borders of the BSSR at the expense of Russian territories, especially in 1924 and 1926. However, Belarusization did not find any real support from the local authorities, who considered Belarusians to be part of the Russian population until the end of the 1920s, as well as due to the significant self-Russification of the Belarusian population in the Russian regions that had already taken place by the middle of the decade. Formally, these tasks were constantly on the agenda of the party and Soviet authorities in the second half of the 1920s. But they have not received any significant practical implementation.

The Law of Nations in the Diplomacy of the American Revolution

Abstract Historians have long known that leaders of the American Revolution looked to the law of nations for insight into the rights and obligations of independent states. In so doing, Americans relied largely on the writings of European legal theorists, such as Hugo Grotius and Emerich de Vattel, whose treatises on the law of nations are regarded today as having laid the foundations of international law. As this article demonstrates, however, early modern statesmen did not base their conduct on such treatises, but on a customary law of nations that they derived from precedent and the text of earlier treaties. This article elucidates the distinction between the customary and theoretical branches of the law of nations. It then goes on to examine the law of nations’ impact on revolutionary-era diplomacy, drawing particular attention to a series of wartime negotiations over rights to the Mississippi River. As the article shows, most American emissaries lacked experience with the customary laws of diplomacy and struggled to use that law effectively in their negotiations. The most serious consequences were averted due in part to French legal advice, and because one American, John Jay, acquired enough competence in customary law to guide his colleagues toward an effective negotiation of peace.

#Stand with Ukraine: Analyzing the links between Germans' emotions and their readiness to protest in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

AbstractThe Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked protests around the globe. Most of Europe had – luckily – not seen violent conflict of this scale on their doorstep for more than 30 years. For Germany, the period was even longer. Being confronted with news about the war drove thousands of German citizens to the streets. In passionate protests, they made various demands of their government. Herein, we investigate the links between Germans' emotions and their readiness to engage in such protests. Drawing on collective action research, we predicted that anger and sympathy would correlate positively with Germans' protest readiness. Given the context and public debate, we predicted that fear should also correlate with protest readiness. Two surveys (total N = 905) conducted with residents of Germany – one day after the invasion and at its first anniversary – supported our hypotheses. We consistently found that the more sympathy and anger respondents experienced, the greater their readiness to protest. Fear explained variance beyond sympathy and anger in two cases and in an information‐seeking measure of protest readiness: Greater fear correlated with a higher interest in demonstrations advocating peace negotiations and a lower interest in demonstrations calling for solidarity with Ukraine. These findings underscore the links between sympathy, anger, fear, and the readiness to protest in response to the contemporary crisis that is the war in Ukraine.