Ceasefires as Statebuilding

© 2019 Marika SosnowskiCurrent academic and applied research on ceasefires overwhelmingly focuses on their capacity to halt violence or ability to lead to a peace agreement. This thesis takes a broader view by arguing that ceasefires are rarely only a “cease fire”. Rather it reconceptualises ceasefire agreements as the codification of a certain military and political state of affairs during wartime. The fact of their codification and the power-dynamics they represent creates a particular type of wartime order that recalibrates relationships and contestations for power and authority on the ground. Illustrated with examples of ceasefires from the Syrian civil war, this dissertation uses key informant interviews with Syrians with first-hand knowledge of ceasefires and conflict and humanitarian specialists to argue that ceasefires have the ability not only to affect violence but other statebuilding dynamics such as governance institutions and economic networks, property and citizenship rights and authority over diplomacy and security. The core of the thesis comprises four peer-reviewed journal articles that think through these different statebuilding implications of ceasefires in civil war. As such, the thesis has relevance not only for academia but also for peace and policy-makers. This is because if we move beyond seeing ceasefires as simply a military tool to better understanding the diverse effects they can have on the ground, we can better manage the negotiation process and power dynamics inherent in any presumably post-conflict environment