Triangulating Peace: How Adversaries Build Sustainable Peace through Negotiated Settlements

Abstract How do adversaries build sustainable peace through negotiated settlements? The last few decades of conflict resolution efforts across the globe have provided us with an extensive body of knowledge and experience on pathways out of protracted and seemingly unsolvable armed conflicts. In this study, we set out to discuss more precisely how this transformation can come about. We do so by exploring three important turning points on the path from war to peace: the opening of negotiations, the reaching of peace agreements, and the establishment of durable peace. We depart from a triangular model of conflict resolution, which suggests that there are three dimensions to all conflicts, each of which must be transformed or managed to achieve sustainable peace: the conflict issues at stake, the parties’ violent conflict behavior, and their contentious conflict attitudes. Illustrative examples from twelve cases of conflict resolution are provided. The primary intended audience for this study is peace practitioners who are struggling to address and resolve protracted civil wars.