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...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
The aim of this thesis is to establish a better understanding of the inner workings of frozen conflicts, by addressing the question of how the conflicts in Moldova and Georgia in the early 90’s...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to establish a better understanding of the inner workings of frozen conflicts, by addressing the question of how the conflicts in Moldova and Georgia in the early 90’s became frozen. The current comprehension of frozen conflicts, both in academia and policy-making circles is rather elusive, as the conflicts are often seen through a mono-theoretical lens, overlooking the potential interaction between different factors on different levels. The three main theoretical perspectives on frozen conflicts; the geopolitical, ethno-nationalist and political-economic perspective, are assessed, after which an explanatory variable is derived from each one. Subsequently, the cases of Moldova and Georgia are analyzed alongside these variables, to determine to what extent each mechanism plays a role in the development of frozen conflicts. A qualitative comparative analysis is carried out to assess the interrelation between variables, across the three different phases of a frozen conflict. The results of this research show that the frozen conflicts in Moldova and Georgia are neither solely ethnic nor geopolitical in nature. Ethnic tensions interplayed with geopolitical motives, which are substantiated by criminal economic incentives. Therefore, the multi-layered nature of frozen conflicts cannot fully be understood through a monotheoretical lens.Show less
