The effect of proscription on pre-negotiation: a comparative analysis of making peace with Colombia’s FARC before and after 9/11

Haspeslagh, Sophie (2018) The effect of proscription on pre-negotiation: a comparative analysis of making peace with Colombia’s FARC before and after 9/11. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

As the listing of armed groups as ‘terrorist organisations’ mushroomed following 9/11 a logical result would be a reduction in the number of settlements negotiated with these targets of proscription. Instead, peace negotiations have continued in parallel with the rapid expansion of listing. However, there is little understanding of how international proscription affects negotiations and peace processes, and in particular how it affects the process by which conflict parties get to the negotiation table. This thesis explores the effects of proscription on pre-negotiation at both the symbolic and material level. By comparing the processes through which the Colombian government and the FARC arrived at the Caguán negotiations (1999-2002) and the Havana negotiations (2012-2016), and treating 9/11 and the international proscription of the FARC as a critical juncture, this research reveals the effects of proscription on the way in which peace processes are initiated. The contribution of this thesis is three-fold. First, it proposes an innovative framework for how to study the effect of proscription on the inception of peace processes, highlighting the central importance of the ‘linguistic ceasefire’. In doing so, it critically revisits and extends central dynamics of the pre-negotiation literature: vilification, symmetry and ripeness. Second, it applies this framework to the Colombian pre-negotiations with the FARC, drawing on primary data from over 50 personal interviews with key actors involved in the negotiations and the qualitative discourse analysis of 20 years of statements by both conflict parties. Finally, it draws together insights from the framework and the case studies and their applicability to other, similar cases.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2018 Sophie Haspeslagh
Library of Congress subject classification:	J Political Science > JZ International relations
Sets:	Departments > International Relations
Supervisor:	Hoffman, Mark
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/3879

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