Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
The Long Road to Peace in Northern IrelandPeace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University$
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.
The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland: Peace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University

Marianne Elliott

Print publication date: 2007

Print ISBN-13: 9781846310652

Published to Liverpool Scholarship Online: June 2013

DOI: 10.5949/UPO9781846314155

ContentsFRONT MATTER
Show Summary Details
Page of

PRINTED FROM LIVERPOOL SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.liverpool.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Liverpool University Press, 2021. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in LSO for personal use.date: 08 March 2021

The Resolution of Armed Conflict: Internationalization and its Lessons, Particularly in Northern Ireland1

The Resolution of Armed Conflict: Internationalization and its Lessons, Particularly in Northern Ireland1

Chapter:
(p.25) The Resolution of Armed Conflict: Internationalization and its Lessons, Particularly in Northern Ireland1
Source:
The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland
Author(s):

Lord David Owen

Publisher:
Liverpool University Press
DOI:10.5949/UPO9781846314155.004

This chapter examines the idea of internationalizing conflict resolution. It identifies the UK's rejection of external diplomacy until 1994 as a major contributing factor to the excessively long–drawn–out nature of the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. It examines a number of cases of external interventions in conflict zones, notably in the former Yugoslavia, and suggests some ground rules for such outside involvement. It is argued that any conflict involving ‘ethnic cleansing’ calls for early intervention, without waiting for a perfect solution. The author also recounts his own experience as Britain's navy minister (1968–70), and later as foreign secretary (1977–79), in the handling of the Rhodesian crisis, when he recognized that Britain's sanctions were failing because it was not involving other powers. The same mistake was being made with Northern Ireland, until Margaret Thatcher involved the Irish government with the Anglo–Irish Agreement of 1985, and John Major took the courageous step of involving the United States of America. This belated involvement of the United States was the crucial factor in the peace process.

Keywords:   conflict resolution, external diplomacy, Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia, ethnic cleansing, United States, Rhodesian crisis

Liverpool Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.

Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.

To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.