Throughout the past eighty years, the United States and Israel have had a close relationship. This study aims to understand and define patterns of behavior from presidents of the United States in their relation with Israel. The understanding of national interest and underlying pat- terns of the United States policies is what inspired the approach of the study, leading to the subject of defining a pattern in behavior. This study examines the relationship between Israel and the United States, focusing on one of the two actors, the United States, by looking at The United States presidencies following the end of the Cold War. By applying rational choice theory to secondary literature on the United State presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Don- ald J. Trump, the results presented that pattern has been present for many years. All presi- dents have taken their own approach on maintaining the social, military, economical, and po- litical relationship, however one president has deprived from the given pattern of putting the countries best interest at the core. Meaning that a deprivation of national interest has taken place. Leading to going against national interest in the region.

The role of civil society in conflict resolution has moved from the margins to the core of analyses of peace processes. However, existing literature has put little attention on examining the contribution of civil society in the implementation of peace agreements in the immediate time upon their conclusion. I aim to fill this gap by asking “How does the mode of civil society inclusion during the pre-agreement stage influence the degree of civil society participation in the implementation of peace agreements?”. I argue that when civil society can directly influence the peace talks by having a seat at the negotiation table this can have downstream effects on how much they will be involved in the implementation of the agreed provisions. The research question is answered in the context of a qualitative study of the cases of the peace process in Mozambique and El Salvador, through the method of structured focused comparison. The findings do not support this expectation. The analysis rather indicates that direct participation is not enough for civil society actors to ensure continuity in their participation, and more substantive engagement and ownership might be needed.

Studies on the inclusion of non-warring parties in peace agreements have risen significantly in the research community. Focus has mostly been on civil society and women’s inclusion while youth inclusion has rarely been studied. At the same time, in 2015, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2250 on youth, peace, and security arguing that youth can contribute to lasting peace. However, this statement has not been substantiated with evidence of this relationship. This paper will therefore study the relationship between meaningful youth inclusion in peace agreements and vertical legitimacy, the people’s belief in the government’s right to rule. Using a comparative case study, the suggested hypothesis, that meaningful youth inclusion will lead to higher vertical legitimacy is tested in Colombia and Guatemala. The results do not find support for the theory. Meaningful youth inclusion in the Colombian peace agreement did not lead to a higher vertical legitimacy later. Of note is that there was limited information available for Guatemala which is a big problem for the study as I cannot estimate the change in vertical legitimacy and thus not draw any certain conclusions from the study. More research should therefore look further into this theory using field research.

The study focuses on the north and south Sudan conflict and seeks to investigate the continuing threats to a return to war between the two parties since the 2005 Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and after the independence of South Sudan. The study critically analyses the CPA and investigates the dilemmas faced by the two Sudans and examines the conflict resolution/transformation process. This thesis relies on data generated from key informant interviews and archival data as primary sources; complemented by secondary sources of data obtained from books, journals, research documents and relevant literature on the area. The study analyses the background of the north-south Sudan conflict, analysis of the CPA, implications of the negotiation, mediation and the implementation processes of the CPA and the referendum, post-referendum, the post-independence issues and the conflict resolution efforts. These are discussed in order to find the reasons as to why the CPA emerged as it did and its effectiveness. The study uses the concept of the conflict resolution/transformation approaches and their methods (mediation, negotiation and peacebuilding), the Galtung ABC theory and the Liberal peace theory as tools to guide the study in order to measure the data collected from the field. The results of the analysis suggest that history, the mediation and the negotiation process viewed to have been narrow and non-inclusive, the content of the CPA itself, the problems of the previous processes before the referendum, the referendum of Southern Sudan and the Abyei referendum failure provided the basis of the origins of the post-referendum and the post-independence issues. These issues are responsible for the dilemmas faced by the two states and eventually the tensions and the threats to a return to war which exist up to the present. All these issues lie at the heart of the difficulties of the conflict resolution process and the relationship problem of North and South Sudan. However, the 2005 CPA had partial success in that it achieved partial negative peace which in turn led to the separation of north and south Sudan.

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yes / How economies of countries at war (war economies) transform in `peace¿ is a critical new area of research in political economy and war and peace studies. The dynamics that affect the way war economies perpetuate or mutate after a peace agreement is signed is the context for this examination of non-state actor roles ¿ normally attention is on state and international organisations ¿ in the problems of peacebuilding. Here the focus is on diaspora networks, what might be described as national or transnational civil society groupings whose role is autonomous but carried considerable potential to assist reconstruction of the war-torn homeland.

The study of civil society participation in peace negotiations has become increasingly popular. Although research has stressed the importance of coordination among civil society groups, no study has so far been conducted that studies the impact coordination among civil society groups can have on the quality of a peace agreement. This thesis aims to fill this gap by asking How does the extent of coordination among civil society groups during peace negotiations impact the quality of a peace agreement? Springing from the premise that civil society groups are aware of underlying conflict causes, this thesis argues that a high extent of civil society groups’ coordination leads to a highquality peace agreement and that this is particularly so when a civil society actor is facilitating the coordination. By applying the method of structured focused comparison, these hypotheses are tested on Guatemala, El Salvador, and Liberia. The empirical findings do not show support for the hypotheses. A variety of factors were discovered during the analysis that could have hampered the impact of civil society groups’ coordination or could hold alternative explanatory power and thus stress the need for further research.

This thesis investigates the role of regional organizations in peacemaking and peacekeeping, particularly on the effects of peace agreement duration. This is important because the United Nations has been traditionally seen as the default international peacekeeping force but recently, more responsibility is being given to regional organizations. This study hypothesizes that regional organizations’ ability to clear commitment problems, create specific agreements, and willingness to enforce agreements make them the most effective third parties to deal with many conflicts. However, the study also hypothesizes that regional organizations are less fit to mediate conflicts based around ethnicity, identity, or religious disparities. By utilizing a mixture of logistic regression and case studies, the results illustrate that regional organizations are an essential asset to creating agreements that elongate the duration of peace. In testing for the partiality of regional organizations, the specifics of agreements made, the willingness and capabilities of enforcement, the reason for the conflict and the institutionalization of the organization, quantitative and qualitative results illustrate that regional organizations are a valid tool for conflict management

Recurring conflicts are a common occurrence as most contemporary intra-state conflicts are recured old conflicts. This is the reality within peace and conflicts studies and a well studied phenomenon. Yet despite deaced of reserach, there still exist subjects wihtin the construction n of peace agreements that have not been studied that might reduce the recurrence of conflict. This thesis explores the effect of providing for a peacekeeping operation within a peace agreement. Based on theories of credible commitment the proposed hypothesis is that peace agreements that provide for a peacekeeping operation are mot durable than those that do not. Using the Uppsala Conflict Data Programs (UCDP) peace agreement dataset, which records peace agreements from 1975 to 2021, a quantitative study will be performed. A bivariable and multivariable regression as well as a T-test and Hazard-test will be used to explore this relationship. The hypothesis does not find support wihtin the statistical evidence that providing for a peacekeeping operation affects the duration of the agreement. However, the thesis still finds important implications for the construction of peace agreements.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: One of Africa’s longest civil wars ended for the second time in 2005, when the leaders of the government of Sudan and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. This action initiated an interim period which culminated with a referendum for the people of Southern Sudan, to decide if they wanted unity or to secede from the north. Through using theories of power sharing and secession this thesis argues that the Sudanese conflict is not resolved after the referendum in South Sudan. The focus of this thesis is to illustrate how the first peace agreement in 1972 failed to deal with root causes and to implement structures that would be acceptable for that part of the population which did not identify with the central elite. Lessons from this process are integral to understand why the secession does not provide the autonomy and prospects of peace that the South and the negotiators intended. This study will provide a thorough assessment of the process from the failure of the Addis Ababa Agreement in 1972 to the making of- and contents of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Although there are many positive aspects to the recent agreement, this study will reveal how the North will keep asserting its dominance through controlling the oil sector and using the unresolved border areas for political gain. In addition, the new structure has changed power structures in both areas, which has left many opposing groups in Sudan in a worse situation than before; thus, the further marginalized people in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile are the real losers in the post-CPA era. As often portrayed, the peace in South Sudan does not only depend on development, but on external influence from the region and especially their relationship with the regime in Khartoum, despite the construction of an autonomous state. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Een van Afrika se langs durende burgeroorloë het vir die tweede keer geëindig in 2005, toe die regering van Soedan en die Soedanese Burgelikke Vryheidsbeweging en Weermag die Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) onderteken het. Hierdie ooreenkoms was die begin van 'n interim-tydperk wat uitgeloop het op ‘n referendum vir die bevolking van Suid-Soedan, waarin hulle moes besluit of hulle wou afstig van die noorde. Deur gebruik te maak van teorieë op magsdeling en afstigtinglig hierdie tesis die mening dat die Soedanese konflik nie opgelos is na die referendum in Suid-Soedan nie. Die fokus van hierdie tesis was op die illustrering van hoe die eerste vredesooreenkoms van 1972 gevaal het om die sleutel oorsake van die konflik te ondersoek en om strukture in plek te stel vir die gedeeltes van die bevolking wat nie met die sentrale elite geïdentifisee rhet nie. Die lesse van hierdie proses is integraal in die verstaan van hoekom outonomie en vooruitsigte van vrede nie in die Suide kan voortsprui tuit die afstigting van Suid-Sudan soos wat die bedoeling van die onderhandelaars was nie. Hierdie studie sal ‘n deeglikke assesering doen van die proses tussen die Addis Ababa Ooreenkoms van 1972 tot en met die sluit van die Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, asook op die inhoud van hierdie ooreenkoms. Alhoewel die nuwe ooreenkoms baie positiewe aspekte bevat, sal die studie toon hoe die Noorde steeds sy dominansie sal kan handhaaf, vir politieke wins, deur beheer uitteoefen oor die olie sektor en deur onopgeloste grens geskille. Daar benewens het die nuwe struktuur veranderde mag strukture in beide gebiede te weeg gebring wat nou gelei het tot ‘n soms slegter situasie vir oposisie groepe binne Sudan; dus is die verder gemarginaliseerde Darfur streek, die Nuba gebergtes en die Blou Nyl die waare verloorders van die na-CPA era. Soos dikwels uitgebeeld word, sal die vrede in Suid-Soedan nie net afhang van ontwikkeling nie, maar ook van eksterne invloede vanuit die streek en veral van hul verhouding met die Khartoemregime, ten spyte van die konstruksie van 'n outonomestaat.