Reconciliation in Frozen Conflicts: The Case of Cyprus

In the second half of the 20th century, the world witnessed the emergence of new states. With the emergence of new states in newly established borders, new issues arose. One of these issues is the emerging disputes between different ethnopolitical groups within these new states. In many of the examples, especially in Eurasia, it can be observed that these disputes turned into frozen conflicts, and these frozen conflicts led to the establishment of de facto states. With the deep historic roots of these conflicts and ties of ethnic groups to other states, international intervention has been an important element of frozen conflicts. Recognizing the transformation from war to peace to be a two-step process where peace can be present either in the form of negative or positive peace, reconciliation is identified to be the way positive peace is achieved from negative peace. Using a qualitative case study approach, the thesis looks into how the Reconciliation Pyramid of Auerbach would be...Show moreIn the second half of the 20th century, the world witnessed the emergence of new states. With the emergence of new states in newly established borders, new issues arose. One of these issues is the emerging disputes between different ethnopolitical groups within these new states. In many of the examples, especially in Eurasia, it can be observed that these disputes turned into frozen conflicts, and these frozen conflicts led to the establishment of de facto states. With the deep historic roots of these conflicts and ties of ethnic groups to other states, international intervention has been an important element of frozen conflicts. Recognizing the transformation from war to peace to be a two-step process where peace can be present either in the form of negative or positive peace, reconciliation is identified to be the way positive peace is achieved from negative peace. Using a qualitative case study approach, the thesis looks into how the Reconciliation Pyramid of Auerbach would be applied to the case of Cyprus to determine the role international intervention plays in the reconciliation process and further reflect on the failure of international intervention so far. It is found that international interventions negatively impact reconciliation processes during frozen conflicts due to their deeply rooted historical involvement in the emergence of issues that generated the conflict as well as their remaining individual incentives.Show less

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Reconciliation in Frozen Conflicts: The Case of Cyprus