The vast majority of theses in this collection are open access and freely available. There are a small number of theses that have access restricted to the WWU campus. For off-campus access to a thesis labeled "Campus Only Access," please log in here with your WWU universal ID, or talk to your librarian about requesting the restricted thesis through interlibrary loan.

Date Permissions Signed

2-3-2010

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Political Science

First Advisor

Abedi, Amir, 1966-

Second Advisor

Biswas, Bidisha

Third Advisor

O Murchu, Niall

Abstract

Current approaches to the negotiated resolution of ethnic civil conflict either ignore or negate the impact of the content of ethnic identities on the negotiation process, or alternatively assume without sufficient evidence that violent conflict is caused by conflicting ethnic narratives. Based upon a comparison of the Israeli-Palestinian and Northern Ireland conflicts and negotiation processes, this thesis suggests a third perspective. While the evidence does not support the contention that conflicting ethnic narratives cause violent civil conflict to occur, identity-based issues can present tremendous barriers to negotiated agreement. The postponement of the central identity-based issue was critical to the success of the Northern Ireland peace process, and the inclusion of such issues for permanent resolution was equally critical to the failure of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. These findings suggest that the postponement of permanently resolving such issues until after the cause of conflict is addressed may offer a more promising strategy for ending violent civil conflict than alternatives hitherto explored.

Type

Text

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25710/49q3-w744

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

506454653

Subject – LCSH

Peace-building; Conflict management--Northern Ireland; Arab-Israeli conflict--1993- --Peace

Geographic Coverage

Northern Ireland

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

Download

Share

COinS