POLS 3490 Lecture Notes - Barbara Walters

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 3490
• Professor: Ian Spears

Document Summary

Compared with interstate wars (international wars), civil wars are only rarely concluded through a negotiated settlement. Much more common that they end because one side prevails over the other. Significant difference between civil wars and interstate wars: civil wars more difficult to resolve peacefully. Negotiations fail because civil wars opponents are asked to do what they consider unthinkable. At a time when no legitimate government and no legal institutions exist to enforce a contract, they are asked to demobilize, disarm, and disengage their military forces and prepare for peace. But once they lay down their weapons and begin to integrate their separate assets into a new united state, it becomes almost impossible to either enforce future cooperation or survive attack. Even if there is an agreement they are never enforceable. In the end negotiations fail because civil wars adversaries cannot credibly promise to abide by such dangerous terms.