Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict

This book examines the extent to which peacebuilding processes such as disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration are possible in the attempt to demilitarize Nigeria’s oil region and establish a stable post-conflict environment for nurturing durable peace. The book argues that the failure of the peacebuilders to address the structural tensions at the heart of insurgency, along with competition for access to the material benefits of peacebuilding, have revived violence at repeated intervals that punctuates the progression of peace. The author’s analysis shows how the interventions pursued by peacebuilders have been successful in stabilizing the oil region by taking arms from insurgents, paying them monthly allowances, and building their capacity to reintegrate into society through a range of transformational processes. While these interventions are praiseworthy, they have transformed the political realities of peacebuilding into an economic enterprise that makes recourse to violence a lucrative endeavour as identity groups frequently mobilize insurgency targeting oil infrastructure to compel the state to enter into negotiations with them. There was little consideration for the impact corruption might have on the peacebuilding process. As corruption becomes entrenched, it fosters exclusion and anger, leading to further conflict. The book proposes pathways to positive peacebuilding in Nigeria’s oil region.

This book critically examines transitional justice in Mexico. It explores how the Mexican democratic regime dealt with the grave human rights violations perpetrated by security forces during the authoritarian era (1929-2000) through a Special Prosecutor’s Office. It offers a complete account of the diverse factors that facilitated the emergence (and policing) of Mexico's transitional justice process. Whilst transitional justice should contribute to the advancement of liberal democracy and, consequently, generate the following benefits: truth, justice, political reconciliation, peace, this book argues that Mexico is a case of transitional injustice. It is an example of how in some societies transitional justice mechanisms are intentionally implemented in ways that, instead of generating justice, produce impunity. It makes important contributions to some of the broader debates addressed by scholars on transitional justice and gives them reason to re-examine transitional justice processes in other countries in a new light.

This short book focuses on the Disappearances that occurred during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Using in-depth interviews with thirteen families of those individuals who were abducted, murdered and secretly buried from the 1970's onwards, this book examines the experience of the families and communities left behind. Through an exploration of the historic and cultural origins of the contemporary IRA and how they came to be in the position of power within Catholic/Nationalist communities during the troubles, the context to the disappearances are presented. This book reviews the journey undertaken by the families, from the initial disappearance of their loved one and the suffocating silence that followed, through their coming together as a self-help group. It follows their lobbying on a national and international basis leading to the return of the bodies of some of their loved ones and the solidarity which leads them to fight on as a group to recover the bodies that remain missing. It also examines the involvement of the British and Irish and American governments in the set up of the International Commission for the Location of Victim's Remains and tells the story of the Clinton's personal involvement in supporting the families in their ongoing quest for recovery. It is written accessibly for researchers and practitioners.