Strategies of Disengagement: A Strategic-Relational Analysis of the Termination of the IRA Campaign

This paper examines one important case of disengagement fom violence, analysing the strategic choices and the key relationships involved in the termination of the IRA campaign in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. It provides an explanation of the ending of this campaign of political violence in terms of strategic choices, dynamic relationships and interactions both within and between key collective actors. It analyses intra-party struggle and the development of inter-party communication as key elements in disengagement, drawing on unique archival sources that provide an insight into the strategic thinking of the IRA. It identifies a number of crucial mechanisms in the disengagement process and outlines a number of lines of inquiry for further research on strategies of disengagement.