Designing Peace

Cyprus and Institutional Innovations in Divided Societies

Neophytos Loizides author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:University of Pennsylvania Press

Published:8th Jan '16

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Designing Peace cover

Designing Peace examines how institutional innovation impacts peace building in divided societies. Drawing on examples from Bosnia, South Africa, and Northern Ireland, the book demonstrates how institutional lessons from elsewhere could be applied to future negotiations in Cyprus and its broader region.

Why do some societies choose to adopt federal settlements in the face of acute ethnic conflict, while others do not? Neophytos Loizides examines how acrimoniously divided Cyprus could re-unify by adopting a federal and consociational arrangement inspiring similar attempts in its region.
Loizides asserts that institutional innovation is key in designing peace processes. Analyzing power-sharing in Northern Ireland, the return of displaced persons in Bosnia, and the preparatory mandate referendum in South Africa, he shows how divided societies have implemented novel solutions despite conditions that initially seemed prohibitive. Turning to Cyprus, he chronicles the breakthrough that led to the exhumations of the missing after 2003, and observes that a society's choice of narratives and institutions can overcome structural constraints. While Loizides points to the relative absence of successful federal and consociational arrangements among societies evolving from the "post-Ottoman space," he argues that neither elites nor broader societies in the region must be held hostages to the past.
To effect lasting and positive change, Loizides encourages stakeholders in divided societies to be prepared to identify, redesign, and implement innovative new institutions. Examining successful peace mediations and identifying the shared experience and commonalities between Cyprus and other divided societies promises not only to inform the tackling of the Cyprus problem but also to provide transferable knowledge with broader implications for the fields of peace studies and conflict resolution.

"Cyprus is a crucial case showing both the promise and the pitfalls of power-sharing. Neophytos Loizides's book is a masterful analysis of all of its complexities and, by comparing it with several other important cases, shows how institutional innovations can contribute significantly to bringing peace to divided and conflict-prone societies." * Arend Lijphart, University of California, San Diego *
"In Designing Peace, Neophytos Loizides advances compelling views on how careful institutional design can offer viable alternatives to the break-up of states in divided societies. The book provides an important comparative framework for those interested in understanding the Cyprus problem and a useful theoretical framework for understanding the range of options that divided societies can embrace in their quest for unity, including federalism and other alternatives where they are needed. For scholars and practitioners working in divided societies, the book is certain to become an important reference text." * Rupak Chattopadhyay, Forum of Federations *
"In Designing Peace, Neophytos Loizides challenges conventional wisdom that negotiated partition is the only answer for the diplomat's graveyard that is Cyprus. Squarely and refreshingly prescriptive, Loizides argues emphatically that institutions matter and can help to overcome antagonistic and entrenched historical narratives. This book introduces a useful perspective for all those interested in the Cyprus problem and undertakes a comparative and theoretical analysis that will make it a key text for those interested in broad questions of conflict management and peace building." * John McGarry, Queens University, Ontario *

ISBN: 9780812247756

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

264 pages