This thesis examines peace negotiations as a critical discussion, analysing what strategies are used in peace talks and the strategic manoeuvring used in each stage of the argumentative activity...Show moreThis thesis examines peace negotiations as a critical discussion, analysing what strategies are used in peace talks and the strategic manoeuvring used in each stage of the argumentative activity based on the topical potential, audience demands and presentational devices. Following Van Eemeren’s (2010) extended pragma-dialectical theory, the thesis, after establishing the theoretical framework on negotiations as a communicative type, the stages and the participants of a peace negotiation and the peace processes and approaches that are adopted during a peace negotiation, analyses the strategies that are used in each stage of the peace negotiations between the United States and Vietnam, that led to the end of the war in Vietnam and to the signing of a peace agreement between the U.S and Vietnam. The thesis concludes with the identification of strategies used in the U.S and North Vietnam peace talks and a discussion about the degree of success of the strategies used in the U.S and Vietnam peace negotiations that led to the a mutually accepted peace accord.Show less
This thesis touches upon the changes in the cultivation of narcotics during the peacebuilding processes in Myanmar and Colombia. It concludes that the cultivation of narcotics has increased during...Show moreThis thesis touches upon the changes in the cultivation of narcotics during the peacebuilding processes in Myanmar and Colombia. It concludes that the cultivation of narcotics has increased during the peacebuilding process in both case-studies and gives preliminary explanations for this observation.Show less
The thesis attempts a theoretical approach to the peace process of President Juan Manuel Santos with the FARC (revolutionary armed forces of Colombia) guerrilla. The FARC guerrilla is the oldest in...Show moreThe thesis attempts a theoretical approach to the peace process of President Juan Manuel Santos with the FARC (revolutionary armed forces of Colombia) guerrilla. The FARC guerrilla is the oldest in the continent, and different international actors participated in the peace process. The thesis delves into various aspects of the Colombian conflict that are crucial for the proper understanding of the peace process with FARC. In order to study the peace process of President Santos and the FARC, this thesis compares previous peace processes with the guerrilla movement and especially investigates the role and influence of kidnappings on the peace processes as Kidnappings play an important role, not only in recent peace negotiations with the guerrilla but also in the intensification of the conflict.Show less
Why do peace processes initiate? This study is an analysis of the explanatory value of I. William Zartman’s ripeness theory in the resolution of the Colombian internal armed conflict. This was done...Show moreWhy do peace processes initiate? This study is an analysis of the explanatory value of I. William Zartman’s ripeness theory in the resolution of the Colombian internal armed conflict. This was done by testing the elements of the theory – mutually hurting stalemate and sense of a way out – in addition to absence of economic resources and mediation presence elements (necessary even if not sufficient) that facilitate and create a favorable condition to initiate a peace process. Data collection was done through document analysis, and the analysis itself through grounded theory. The scope was of two case studies that started a negotiated settlement, the first one between the state and the 19th of April Movement (M-19) in 1989 and the second one between the state and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC) in 1999. The contribution of this study was to understand the causes that generated opposite results, the first one ended successfully and the latter did not, even if both started a peace process. The two guerrilla groups were chosen because they were the largest groups with the characteristics described above, but why choosing Colombia? This conflict is the only one in its complex nature with five decades that still remains in the Latin American region. The findings were that a ripe moment happened only in the first case. While in the first case all elements were present except mediation, in the second one only mediation was present. A gap of the theory was that the role of mediation is not clear and under what conditions it plays a role in ripeness theory. This study may then conclude that attempts of escalation by all parties in a conflict may be necessary to set the favorable conditions for a ripe moment to happen in conflict resolution.Show less
