From Agreement Design to Durable Peace: A Bibliometric Mapping and Systematic Review of Research on Peace Agreement Implementation 2000–2025

Abstract Why do some peace agreements endure while others remain partially implemented or are followed by renewed violence? This study combines bibliometric mapping of 493 Scopus-indexed journal articles (2000–2025) with a systematic review of 104 full texts from the same corpus. The bibliometric analysis identifies an intellectual core around credible commitment, power sharing, spoilers and conflict recurrence, alongside recent attention to implementation, transitional justice, gender and Colombia. Publication output is concentrated in the United States and United Kingdom, while Colombia is both a major affiliation base and the most frequent case in the review corpus. The full-text synthesis indicates that outcomes cannot be inferred from agreement provisions alone: they depend on interactions among commitment institutions, meaningful and protected inclusion, security and spoiler management, material and territorial delivery, and justice and rights. Apparent contradictions across studies often reflect differences in institutional arena, level of analysis, outcome measure and time horizon. The article develops a Conditional Alignment Framework and four propositions for comparative testing.