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Tracing Varieties of Peace

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Tracing Varieties of Peace Tracing Varieties of Peace A case study on three approaches to peace in a frozen conflict Johanna Kolli Master’s thesis, 30 credit Master’s Program in Crisis Management and Peacebuilding, 120 credit Spring semester 2020 Abstract Scholars in the peace and conflict field oftentimes argue that peace is somewhat under- conceptualised. The Varieties of Peace network has made a substantial effort in furthering the conceptualisation of peace by creating a comprehensive framework, theorising peace as three different approaches: situational, relational and ideational. In this thesis, I explored how this framework can be applied in an empirical context and how the approaches relate to each other; testing the internal validity and assumptions of the framework. By shifting the common focus of peace from stability to a dynamic process of change, I studied how peace changes in an empirical context that is typically understood as static: frozen conflicts. In a case study on Abkhazia from 1994-2008, I used process-tracing to study how the three approaches relate to each other, either harmoniously or with dissonance, and to describe the changes of peace in a frozen conflict. I conclude that the Varieties of Peace framework has proven to be useful when studying the dynamics of peace and how it changes in a post-conflict setting. It has been especially useful in capturing the cyclical dynamic of change in a frozen conflict. The framework has comparative and comprehensive advantages in studying the peace as a complex, dynamic process, but inhibits some issues regarding the trade-off between complexity and parsimony and concerning the internal validity. Further research is needed in order to utilise its full potential as a framework that can be used to systematically study the varieties of peace in the world. Key words: Varieties of Peace, three approaches to studying peace, frozen conflicts, Abkhazia Table of content List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ i 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Purpose and research questions ............................................................................................................ 3 2. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................................................. 4 2.1. Three approaches to studying varieties of peace .................................................................................. 4 2.2. Peace as a situation ............................................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Peace as a relation ................................................................................................................................ 5 2.4. Peace as an idea .................................................................................................................................... 7 2.5. The problem of ontology and epistemology when studying peace ........................................................ 9 2.6. Operationalisation ............................................................................................................................... 10 2.6.1. Situational peace ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.6.2. Relational peace .............................................................................................................................. 12 2.6.3. Ideational peace .............................................................................................................................. 13 3. Methodology and material ......................................................................................................................... 14 3.1. Qualitative research and case studies ................................................................................................. 14 3.2. Case selection ...................................................................................................................................... 15 3.3. Studying change: process-tracing ....................................................................................................... 17 3.4. Theoretical assumptions: how do the three approaches relate to each other? ................................... 17 3.5. Analysing ideas .................................................................................................................................... 19 3.6. Material ............................................................................................................................................... 20 4. Results and analysis .................................................................................................................................... 21 4.1. Contextual background ....................................................................................................................... 21 4.2. The first period: 1994-1999 ................................................................................................................ 22 4.2.1. Situational peace ............................................................................................................................. 23 4.2.2. Relational peace .............................................................................................................................. 26 4.2.3. Ideational peace .............................................................................................................................. 29 4.3. The second period: 1999-2003 ............................................................................................................ 31 4.3.1. Situational peace ............................................................................................................................. 31 4.3.2. Relational peace .............................................................................................................................. 35 4.3.3. Ideational peace .............................................................................................................................. 37 4.4. The third period: 2004-2008 ............................................................................................................... 39 4.4.1. Situational peace ............................................................................................................................. 40 4.4.2. Relational peace .............................................................................................................................. 44 4.4.3. Ideational peace .............................................................................................................................. 46 4.5. Harmonious and dissonant changes in the Abkhaz frozen conflict ..................................................... 48 5. Lessons learned from studying three approaches to peace ..................................................................... 51 6. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 54 7. References .................................................................................................................................................... 56 Annex 1 ..................................................................................................................................................................... i Annex 2 .................................................................................................................................................................... ii Annex 3 .................................................................................................................................................................... v Figure 1: GGCT model of ideal types of peace by Sahovic (2007; 2018) ............................................................... 9 Table 1: the two dimensions of situational peace (Jarstad et al. 2019, 8). .............................................................. 5 Table 2: relational peace approach, summarising table (Söderström et al. 2019, 21)............................................ 7 Table 3: operationalisation of the ideal types of peace based on Sahovic (2007). ................................................ 14 Table 4: summarising table of the three approaches to peace in 1994-2008. ....................................................... 51 List of abbreviations CBM – Confidence-building measures CIS – Commonwealth of Independent States CPKF – CIS Peacekeeping Forces CSO – Civil society organisation IA – International Alert ICU – University of California, Irving NGO – Non-governmental organisation OSCE – Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe SSR – Soviet Socialist Republic UN – United Nations UNOMIG – United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia i 1. Introduction Peace and conflict scholars have argued that peace in general is somewhat under- conceptualised. In contrast to research about conflict, there is far less comprehensive and systematic work on understanding of what peace actually is and how it should be studied (Jarstad et al.
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