Give Peace a Plan: Peace Plans as Diplomatic Tools and Textual Agents in Conflict Areas

Lior Lehrs*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Various conflict areas have faced situations of deadlock after repeated rounds of violence and failed negotiations. In such cases, international actors have used the strategy of drafting, presenting, and promoting a peace plan that addresses the main issues in the conflict and formulates a basis for negotiation and agreement. The article analyzes peace plans as a strategy in peacemaking, international intervention, and mediation processes in conflict areas, using four case studies: The Contact Group's plan for Bosnia (1994); US President Bill Clinton's plan for Israel-Palestine (2000); United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan for Cyprus (2004); and United Nations Envoy Martti Ahtisaari's plan for Kosovo (2007). The article examines the peace plans as a diplomatic strategy and international practice and explores their influence as a "textual agency"in the long term. It finds that peace plans, though shaped by a specific context, can under certain conditions take on an independent life and have a long-term impact, even if they were rejected and had failed in the short term. The research traces the influence of the plans in various spheres and identifies the main factors that explain the variance in their afterlives.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)238-249
Number of pages12
JournalInternational Studies Quarterly
Volume65
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) (2020).

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