Designated actors, details, and dignity

: how specificity in negotiating conditions and peace treaty terms impacts the success of post-war military reintegration

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the post-civil war processes of military integration in Angola and Mozambique through the lens of peace treaty negotiations and implementation. The research includes unique primary source data, including interviews with negotiation participants as well as UN archival materials opened only in 2019. This thesis chronologically compares the two country case studies, investigating both the successful and failed treaties of these conflicts in detail, examining their negotiating contexts, treaty terms, and implementation processes. The dissertation argues that the details about the size, ranking and promotions system, and organisation of post-conflict integrated militaries must be specified in the treaty to enable implementation success. Additionally, the dissertation highlights the importance of dignity of participants and the inclusion of military experts during negotiations to enable high-quality treaty terms. The dissertation also argues that implementation committees, if instituted, must have clear tie-breaking mechanisms and clearly defined powers and responsibilities in the peace treaty in order to adjudicate unforeseen circumstances during implementation. In essence, the thesis demonstrates the critical importance of specificity in peace treaties in understanding implementation outcomes for military integration. This is an area that is rarely the primary focus of research undertaken about successful conditions of peace, making treaty specificity an undervalued factor in implementation success or failure.

Date of Award	1 Nov 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	King's College London
Supervisor	Stuart Griffin (Supervisor) & Mats Berdal (Supervisor)