External powers commonly play a major role in efforts to break patterns of conflict and to instal stable and durable peace settlements. They do this not just by underwriting security arrangements, but also by being available to intervene at critical moments. This book considers the special (but by no means unique) case where the conflict is located in a region of one state over which a neighbouring state has had a territorial claim, itself part of the legacy of a quasi-colonial relationship: Northern Ireland. This book focuses on the changes in the British state, whose writ of course extends over Northern Ireland, but also the Irish state, which surrendered a strong formal but ineffective claim to jurisdiction over Northern Ireland for the reality of a significant voice in its political future. These were ultimately to facilitate the process of settlement leading to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, and the later transformation of institutions and political relations in Northern Ireland and in these islands more generally. It innovates by using a new oral archive built up over the past decade. The book explores the interrelations of different levels of state and institutional change. These interrelations range from the broadest concepts of sovereignty and ideology to the actual impact of large changes on particular institutions and laws. They also extend over elite political assumptions and strategies, and inter-state coordination practices. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.

This book will outline a theological transformative approach that is effective in resolving congregational conflict and has shown that, in the question of how the contemporary congregation might address conflict, the answers lie not only in the process James taught his audience in his chapter four of hus epistle but in a deeper understanding of the kind of kingdom Jesus embodied and his expectations of how its members would live with a clear sense of their own standing before God and one another. It will develop a dialogue between conflict theory and theology to create a solution that helps transform conflict into positive outcomes. Conflict transformation is a new approach to conflict resolution that attempts to describe what ought to happen in conflict more precisely. It is a step beyond conflict resolution and points toward a deep transformation in the conflicting parties, stopping the issues that trigger violence and allowing peace in relationships. Resolution focuses on the present conflict or issue and finds the solution. Transformation focuses on the people involved in the conflict and their permanent relationships with each other. Conflict transformation occurs only when true wisdom reigns among people in congregation. It agrees with Vayrynen (1991) that actor transformation is critical to transform conflict into something good and beneficial to the organization. However, unlike Vayrynen, it believes that, unless actor transformations occur, any other transformations (e.g., issue, rule, and structure) will be only temporary, and the conflict that had been controlled in the present will reemerge later on in the future unless the falsely wise members are replaced with truly wise ones.

This book considers how the social construction of crime and the criminalising of political expression impact upon different stages in a violent political conflict. The freedom to express our political opinions is regarded as an essential human right throughout most of the world, and yet, in defence of our security, governments often place various restrictions on it. This book directly considers what these restrictions are in the context of deeply divided societies to understand how they impact upon intergroup relations in four different contexts: nonviolent movements, counter-insurgency, peace negotiations, and post-settlement peacebuilding. Drawing on an extensive body of original interviews and archival material, the volume analyses this relationship through an in-depth consideration of Northern Ireland and South Africa, followed by a wider analysis of Turkey, Sri Lanka, Belgium, and Canada. The overarching argument is that the implications of criminalising political expression depend on both its ‘target’ and the wider social reality it contributes towards. This book will be of much interest to students of conflict resolution, transitional justice, law, and International Relations.

This book provides a comparative analysis of the potential of restorative justice approaches to dealing with mass victimization in the context of large-scale violent conflicts focusing on case studies from Kosovo, Israel-Palestine and Congo, incorporating contributions from leading authorities in these areas. One of the main objectives of the book is to examine if, how and to what extent restorative justice is applicable in various different cultural, social and historical contexts, and what common themes can be identified within the different regions under analysis. The book will also provide a critical analysis of the UN Basic Principles on the use of restorative justice programmes in criminal matters as applied to the context of large scale violence.

Perspectives in Waging Conflicts Constructively offers diverse perspectives on how large-scale conflicts can be conducted with more positive benefits, minimizing their destructiveness. Distinguished analysts and practitioners review the core ideas of the innovative “constructive conflict approach” and examine cases where conflicts have been waged with fewer destructive consequences. An introduction presents key concepts in constructive conflict resolution, and chapters offer cases of these theories in action. Cases feature both global and regional examples ranging from Israel to North Korea. The book also contains recommendations for policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and citizens about how stakeholders at all levels might help avoid destructive patterns that are common in large-scale conflict while working for positive change. Contributors include Patrick G. Coy, Esra Cuhadar, Bruce W. Dayton, Martina Fischer, Galia Golan, Louis Kriesberg, Christopher Mitchell, Robert Murrett, Thania Paffenholz, Lee Smithey, and Steven Zunes.

This collection of papers examines the current rise in violence by Dissident Irish Republicans and its impact on the Northern Ireland Peace Process. The work will address advanced undergraduate and graduate students in Terrorism Studies, Irish Politics, Political Violence, and Conflict Studies.

After three decades of violence, Northern Ireland has experienced unprecedented peace. This book, now available in paperback, examines the impact of the 1998 Agreement which halted the violence on those most affected by it – the Northern Irish people themselves. Using public opinion surveys conducted over a period of half a century, this book covers changes in public opinion across all areas of society and politics, including elections, education, community relations and national identity. The surveys show that despite peace, Protestants and Catholics remain as deeply divided as ever. The vast majority marry co-religionists, attend religious schools and have few friends across the religious divide. The results have implications not just for peacemaking in Northern Ireland, but for other societies emerging from conflict. The main lesson of peacemaking in Northern Ireland is that political reform has to be accompanied by social change across the society as a whole. Peace after conflict needs social as well as political change.

Five specialists examine the historical relationship of culture and conflict in various regional societies. The authors use Adda B. Bozeman's theories on conflict and culture as the basis for their analyses of the causes, nature, and conduct of war and conflict in the Soviet Union, the Middle East, Sinic Asia (China, Japan, and Vietnam), Latin America, and Africa. Drs. Blank, Lawrence Grinter, Karl P. Magyar, Lewis B. Ware, and Bynum E. Weathers conclude that non-Western cultures and societies do not reject war but look at violence and conflict as a normal and legitimate aspect of sociopolitical behavior.

Since the end of the Cold War in the early ’90s, a multi-track approach to peacemaking has been developed by academics and practitioners to bring political and civil society leaders together from across the divide of contested societies to find ways out of the conflict. Much of the focus up to now has been given to the strategic contribution of Track II conflict analysis and problem-solving workshops. This book puts the spotlight on the role that grassroots leaders and citizens can play at Track III level in the community in building and strengthening a bottom-up approach to conflict transformation following protracted conflicts. In Part 1, the focus is on the post-conflict situation of Northern Ireland twenty years after the Belfast Good Friday Agreement. Part 2 portrays scholarly and practitioners’ perspectives and actions in communities and organizations designed to build partnerships in order to counteract the legacies of active protracted conflict. Plots the role of Track III approaches within a multi-track peacemaking pyramid in the protracted conflict and post-conflict phases of confl ict transformation. Provides case studies on how to engage community leaders in thinking together how to work with deep-seated legacies of protracted conflicts. Explores the contribution of bottom-up models to build intergroup partnerships within and between local communities. Focuses on the interface between research and practice.

By drawing on social movement theories, this book explains how terrorist movements decline, using the case of Irish Republicanism. The continuity of terrorism and political violence from generation to generation demonstrates the need to go beyond a focus on groups or individuals in order to explain how terrorism ends. The concept of de-radicalisation has been critiqued for its lack of explanatory value in accounting for disengagement from terrorism or how the risk of terrorism re-emerging is reduced. However, building on the morphogenetic approach, this book distinguishes between structure/culture and agency over time in order to analyse the causal influence between the two. Two processes are analysed: disengagement framing processes explain how actors change attitudes to violence and the book identifies which factors ensure frames resonate with audiences; and social movement de-radicalisation accounts for the outcomes of disengagement in initiating structural change which transforms the landscape the next generation finds itself in. The fundamental aim of the book is to provide theoretical and conceptual insights into how terrorism can not only come to an end, but can be prevented from emerging to be a significant threat again within a society. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and political violence, social movement theory, British and Irish Politics, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.