"Full-length study of the use of back-channels in repeated efforts to end the 'Troubles'. This book provides a textured account that extends our understanding of the distinctive dynamics of negotiations conducted in secret and the conditions conducive to the negotiated settlement of conflict. It disrupts and challenges some conventional notions about the conflict in Northern Ireland, offering a fresh analysis of the political dynamics and the intra-party struggles that sustained violent conflict and prevented settlement for so long. It draws on theories of negotiation and mediation to understand why efforts to end the conflict through back-channel negotiations repeatedly failed before finally succeeding in the 1990s. It challenges the view that the conflict persisted because of irreconcilable political ideologies and argues that the parties to conflict were much more open to compromise than the often-intransigent public rhetoric suggested. The analysis is founded on a rich store of historical evidence, including the private papers of key Irish Republican leaders and British politicians, recently released papers from national archives in Dublin and London, and the papers of Brendan Duddy, the intermediary who acted as the primary contact between the IRA and the British government for two decades, including papers that have not yet been made publicly available. This documentary evidence, combined with original interviews with politicians, mediators, civil servants, and Republicans, allows a vivid picture to emerge of the complex maneuvering at this intersection"--

State responses to terrorism have shaped politics and society globally. But how far, and in what precise ways, has counter-terrorism actually succeeded? Based on the author's experience of studying terrorism and counter-terrorism for over three decades, Does Counter-Terrorism Work? offers an historically-grounded, systematic, and expert interrogation of the effectiveness of state responses to terrorist violence. Previous analyses have too often tended to be polarized, simplistic, and short-termist; they have also lacked a comprehensive framework against which properly to assess the (in)efficacy of counter-terrorist efforts over time. Richard English's pioneering book carefully defines what effective counter-terrorism would involve, and then tests that layered framework through cross-case, balanced, historically-focused comparison of important counter-terrorist campaigns. Drawing on a vast range of source material, Does Counter-Terrorism Work? assesses in detail the strategic, tactical, and personal or political achievements and failures evident this blood-stained field of work. The book is intended to stimulate debate and reflection among scholars, students, practitioners, and the wider public. Every one of us is daily affected by the choices made in counter-terrorist politics and policy. This deeply original book helps us to understand how society and politics have been shaped by such decisions in the past, and prepares us to respond more effectively in the future to one of the world's most important challenges.

When Operation Banner was launched in 1969 civil war threatened to break out in Northern Ireland and spread over the Irish sea. Uncivil War reveals the full story of how the British army acted to save Great Britain from disaster but, in so doing, condemned the people of Northern Ireland to protracted, grinding conflict.

Useful Assets By: Robert C. Williams “The Life of Lies. The silent circle of assent. The boss in complete control. Loyalty oaths. An us-versus-them worldview. Lying about things, large and small, in service to some warped code of loyalty. These rules and standards were hallmarks of the Mafia, but throughout my career I’d be surprised how often I’d find them applied outside of it.” -James Comey, A Higher Loyalty. Truth, Lies and Leadership (N.Y.: Flatiron Books, 2018), page 7. Useful Assets explores the deep-rooted ties between the Trump family, the Russians and Eurasian organized crime dating as far back as 1977. But just how deep do those ties go? How involved were the Russians in the outcome of the 2016 presidential election and how does this link to our current constitutional crisis? In this thoroughly researched political exposé, Russian historian Robert C. Williams strives to answer those questions, and more.

Lucas Davenport’s colleague, Minneapolis investigator Virgil Flowers, takes center stage for the first time in Dark of the Moon, “an adrenaline rush peppered with laugh-out-loud moments” (Booklist)—and the rush continues through all four suspense-packed novels in this set from #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lucas Davenport novels John Sandford. Dark of the Moon Heat Lightning Rough Country Bad Blood

Virgil Flowers hunts a killer responsible for a strange string of murders in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author John Sandford. On a hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, Virgil Flowers gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A body has been found near a veterans’ memorial in Stillwater with two shots to the head and a lemon in his mouth—exactly like the body they found two weeks ago. Working the murders, Flowers becomes convinced that someone is keeping a list—with many more names on it. And when he discovers what connects them all, he’s almost sorry. Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down a lot more trails than he thought it did—and every one of them is booby-trapped.

Bombs, Bullets and the Border examines Irish Government Security Policy and the role played by the Gardaí and Irish Army along the Northern Irish border during some of the worst years of the Troubles. Mulroe knits together an impressive range of sources to delve into the murky world occupied by paramilitaries and those policing the border. The ways in which security forces under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments secretly cooperated with the British Army and the RUC, exacerbating tensions with republican groups in the border counties, are meticulously examined. Mulroe also reveals the devastating consequences of this approach, which left a loyalist threat unheeded and the 26 counties open to attack. The findings of the Smithwick Tribunal and the upheaval of Brexit have kept the issue of Irish border security within the public eye, but without a complete awareness of its consequences. Bombs, Bullets and the Border is vital reading in understanding what a secure border entails, and how it affects the lives of those living within its hinterland.

This updated and revised second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Peacebuilding contains cutting-edge analyses of contemporary attempts to reach and sustain peace. The book covers the main actors and dynamics of peacebuilding, as well as the main challenges that it faces, with accessible chapters. The volume is comprehensive, covering everything from the main international institutions for peacebuilding to the links between peacebuilding and climate change, or peacebuilding and trauma. It is also firmly interdisciplinary, with a number of chapters devoted to showcasing how different disciplines interpret peacebuilding and how they contribute to it. Bringing together leading thinkers and practitioners on peacebuilding, many from the Global South, the handbook offers a valuable “hands-on” perspective on how peace can be secured and sustained. There is a significant emphasis on comparison and the book shows how peacebuilding is best examined from the vantage point of multiple cases. The book is organised into six thematic sections: Part I: Architecture and Actors Part II: Reading Peacebuilding Part III: Issues and Approaches Part IV: Violence and Security Part V: Everyday Living Part VI: Disciplinary Approaches This book will be essential reading for students of peacebuilding, mediation and post-conflict reconstruction, and of great interest to students of statebuilding, intervention, civil wars, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies and IR in general.

This fully updated third-edition of Contemporary Peacemaking is a state of the art overview of peacemaking in relation to contemporary civil wars. It examines best (and worst) practice in relation to peace processes and peace accords. The contributing authors are a mix of leading academics and practitioners with expert knowledge of a wide arrays of cases and techniques. The book provides a mix of theory and concept-building along with insights into ongoing cases of peace processes and post-accord peacebuilding. The chapters make clear that peacemaking is a dynamic field, with new practices in peacemaking techniques, changes to the international peace support architecture, and greater awareness of key issues such as gender and development after peace accords. The book is mindful of the intersection between top-down and bottom-up approaches to peace and how formal and institutionalized peace accords need to be lived and enacted by communities on the ground.

Though forced displacement constituted a central and pervasive feature of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ effecting tens of thousands of citizens, remarkably it has been afforded little more than a footnote or fleeting reference in most accounts of the conflict. This book seeks to ‘end the silence’ surrounding this neglected and ubiquitous aspect of the conflict. Based on 88 in-depth qualitative interviews with victims and survivors, and extensive secondary research, this fascinating study provides the first comprehensive examination of forced displacement in Northern Ireland. The analysis presented captures the unique perspectives of those forcibly uprooted over the course of the 30-year conflict and places on historical record their stories and experiences. This thought-provoking work challenges and broadens prevailing understandings of conflict-related violence, harm, and loss in Northern Ireland to demonstrate the centrality of forced movement, territory, and demographics to the roots and subsequent trajectory of the Troubles. In doing so, it shows that to fully understand the eruption and outplaying of the Troubles and its elusive peace, engagement with and understanding of the legacy of forced displacement is crucial.