News Release

Designing peace -- guidance for reaching durable settlements

Book Announcement

University of Kent

A new book by a University of Kent expert on political conflict resolution provides a template for policy-makers on how to manage peace processes.

The book, entitled Designing Peace (University of Pennsylvania Press) by Dr Neophytos Loizides, of the University's School of Politics and International Relations (POLIR), makes use of case studies from nations around the world to show how conflicts can be effectively managed to ensure effective power-sharing and durable solutions for populations dispersed by war.

Dr Loizides draws on evidence from Northern Ireland, South Africa, the Balkans, Colombia, Lebanon and Iraq to demonstrate which innovations deliver results in contemporary conflict management.

He focusses particularly on Cyprus throughout the book, showing how it could inspire similar conflict resolution elsewhere and provide an inspiring model for the entire Middle East.

He identifies effective support mechanisms for victim groups, including displaced persons and relatives of missing persons which have been used in different ways in different countries.

Dr Loizides also highlights strategies to maintain grassroots support in peace processes, particularly in referendums and emphasises four critical examples of institutional innovations of relevance to Cyprus and other divided societies.

Dr Loizides is Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow and Reader in International Conflict Analysis at POLIR.

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