Negotiations, Peace Processes, and Violence

Abstract

Negotiations as a form of communication and negotiated settlements are an important form of managing, containing, and ending armed conflict. Yet, the relationship between negotiations and violence is ambivalent. On the one hand, ongoing violence can derail negotiations, and ending violence is the ultimate and necessary objective of negotiations. On the other hand, armed actors gain bargaining power via military strength, and have veto-power as armed “spoilers. This panel examines the dynamics of negotiation between states and armed opponents, analyzing the relationship between violence and negotiation and looking at the role of mediation and different types of third parties.