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11 The Cyprus conflict in a comparative perspective: assessing the impact of European integration Elise Féron and Fatma Güven Lisaniler Introduction The process of Europeanisation raises questions concerning the transformation of collective identities and the organisation of democracy, especially in states where a range of social processes coalesce around generally shared perceptions of community difference. Is such a thing as community coexistence possible, or does peaceful coexistence imply some kind of erosion of community? We cannot assume that
Traditional approaches to conflict resolution Lederach Lederach is a leading proponent of transformation type conflict resolution who contends that conflict tends to occur where there are ethnic, regional and religious differences and arises over ‘long-standing animosities rooted in a perceived threat to identity and survival’ 1 and thus armed
6 African conflicts Around the same time as the Balkan Wars shook Europe, a wave of genocidal conflicts rippled through the African continent. They displayed patterns previously not characteristic of warfare in general and tribal warfare in particular. While violence, civil unrest, insurgencies and civil wars had been a recurring feature in many countries of the African continent, since the late 1980s, a number of large-scale and long-running conflicts of immense brutality, increasingly involving the civilian population, both women (as most numerous victims of
12 The refugee factor in two protracted conflicts: Cyprus and Palestine compared Peter Loizos and Tobias Kelly Introduction In the early years of the twenty-first century, two peace processes at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, both of which had once widely been seen as very promising, came to a halt. In Cyprus, the Annan Plan was rejected by the majority of Greek Cypriots. In Israel/Palestine, the Oslo peace process collapsed into the second intifada. Despite their obvious differences, not least in the levels of political violence, the fate of the
3 Identity conflict A basic feature of the universal human condition is the need to find commonality with others and form larger associations at the individual, group, and community level, and this is at the heart of the concept of identity. A variety of factors, ranging from physical attributes, language, and culture to societal norms and structures work to promote a selfawareness and self-consciousness of sameness with a larger collective. A significant positive benefit resulting from this shared identity is the ability to provide protection and security
Introduction Men experience sexual violence during armed conflict situations, which affects their physical, social and psychological well-being. However, this is under-researched and under-reported ( Vojdik: 2014 : 931), and often misunderstood and mischaracterised ( Kapur and Muddell, 2016 : 4). Consequently, men who experience conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) have been severely overlooked within the humanitarian
English ministers and administrators in Dublin with the means to tame the ‘barbarous’ natives who continued to resist the civilising influence of English culture ( Figure 1.2 ). Moreover, the conflicts over land, landscape, and land use would soon provide the most important theatre for symbolic and ritualised communication: in a centuries-old struggle between adversaries with little or no common language, actions often spoke in place of words. Indeed, in the Ulster Plantation, landscape, architecture, and objects would
Drawing on more than 150 interviews with former IRA, INLA, UVF and UFF prisoners, this book is a major analysis of why Northern Ireland has seen a transition from war to peace. Most accounts of the peace process are ‘top-down’, relying upon the views of political elites. This book is ‘bottom-up’, analysing the voices of those who actually ‘fought the war’. What made them fight, why did they stop and what are the lessons for other conflict zones? Using unrivalled access to members of the armed groups, the book offers a critical appraisal of one-dimensional accounts of the onset of peace, grounded in ‘mutually hurting stalemate’ and ‘ripeness’, which downgrade the political and economic aspects of conflict. Military stalemate had been evident since the early 1970s and offers little in explaining the timing of the peace process. Moreover, republicans and loyalists based their ceasefires upon very different perceptions of transformation or victory. Based on a Leverhulme Trust project, the book offers an analysis based on subtle interplays of military, political, economic and personal changes and experiences. Combined, these allowed combatants to move from violence to peace whilst retaining core ideological beliefs and maintaining long-term constitutional visions. Former prisoners now act as ambassadors for peace in Northern Ireland. Knowledge of why and how combatants switched to peaceful methodologies amid widespread skepticism over prospects for peace is essential to our understanding of the management of global peace processes.
After three decades of violence, Northern Ireland has experienced unprecedented peace. It is now generally accepted that the peace accord which ended the Northern Ireland conflict, the 1998 Belfast Agreement, is an exemplar of this trend. This book examines the impact of the 1998 Agreement which halted the violence on the Northern Irish people. It covers changes in public opinion across all areas of society and politics, including elections, education, community relations and national identity. The surveys presented show that despite peace, Protestants and Catholics remain as deeply divided as ever. The book examines the development of the theory of consociationalism and how it has been woven into the intellectual debate about the nature of the Northern Ireland conflict. The role of religion in conflict transformation has emerged as an important issue in Northern Ireland. Ethnonationalism in Northern Ireland is fuelled by its multifaceted and complex nature. The constitutional position of Northern Ireland has been the topic of recurring debate since partition in 1920. The role of education in promoting social cohesion in post-conflict societies is often controversial. The book explores both the nature and extent of victimhood and the main perpetrators of the political violence. The key elements of a consociational approach include a grand coalition representing the main segments of society; proportionality in representation; community (segmental) autonomy; and mutual vetoes on key decisions. The main lesson of peace-making in Northern Ireland is that political reform has to be accompanied by social change across the society as a whole.
of projects in the north-west and north-east and in Qabassin – under ISIL control at the time. I cross-referenced my analyses with those of other researchers and journalists covering the Syrian conflict. My aim in this article is to describe the operations conducted by MSF France in four distinct areas of Syria from 2011 to 2018 during the country’s civil war: the governorates of Idlib and Aleppo, controlled by different rebel groups; the north-east, administered by the