Intrastate peace agreements and the durability of peace

Abstract

The article debunks the conception that peace agreements are all equal. Distinct from the conventional monocausal assessment, I view the peace agreement as a cohesive whole and evaluate its strength in terms of its structural and procedural provisions. I use data on the length of intrastate peace episodes during the period from 1946 to 2010. My key finding is that the design quality of the peace agreement has a significant impact on the durability of peace. Agreements that are carefully designed to deal with all obstacles to cooperation have the strongest pacifying effect among armed conflict outcomes. The article sets forth ways to sharpen the performance of conflict management operations in war-torn countries.