IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ctwqxx/v43y2022i1p131-147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power mediators and the ‘illiberal peace’ momentum: ending wars in Libya and Syria

Author

Listed:
  • Irene Costantini
  • Ruth Hanau Santini

Abstract

The civil conflicts that erupted in the Middle East and North Africa as a consequence of the failure of the 2011 Arab uprisings show the limits of mediation as a tool for conflict resolution and of negotiated settlement based on power-sharing as a solution to conflict. The article examines mediation processes in Libya and Syria, problematising the role played by the nature of mediators as well as the broader ideational framework in which they have been operating. We show that in both contexts there has been a declining influence of pure mediators, exemplified by the sidelining of the United Nations, in parallel to a gradual but steady dispersion of mediation efforts in favour of ‘power’ and biased mediators. This trend reflects a broader rise in arguments in favour of stability, often interpreted in authoritarian shapes at both the local and the international level, a development that normatively and politically undermines the existing international regime dealing with civil wars. Taken together, mediation attempts in Libya and Syria point to the hollowing out of the liberal peace consensus and the consolidation of an alternative framework for conflict resolution based on authoritarian settlement.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Costantini & Ruth Hanau Santini, 2022. "Power mediators and the ‘illiberal peace’ momentum: ending wars in Libya and Syria," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 131-147, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:43:y:2022:i:1:p:131-147
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2021.1995711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01436597.2021.1995711
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01436597.2021.1995711?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:43:y:2022:i:1:p:131-147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/ctwq .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.