A victor’s peace and the influence of the past

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What type of peace is created after a military victory? How do former peace processes and agreements shape peace in this context? Research suggests that in intrastate armed conflicts government victories are generally associated with authoritarian tendencies at the center. The Sri Lankan case supports this proposition, at least in the short-term. However, what characterizes peace in the longer term, and how does it vary within the state?

 

My research aims to analyze peace after a military victory by comparing varieties of peace across geographical localities in post-war Sri Lanka, and by exploring how previous peace processes and agreements shape the evolving peace dynamics. The war-ending in Sri Lanka raises questions about what happens to former agreements, undertakings, and structures after a military victory, and how they influence the type of peace that is created post-war. Following from this, my research will address challenges posed by the particular war-ending for nation-wide processes of building peace.