Reputation and the occurrence and success of mediation in civil wars

• Published in: Journal of peace research Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 410 - 424
• Main Authors: Keels, Eric, Greig, J Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England Sage Publications, Ltd 01-05-2019; SAGE Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Agreements; Civil war; Conflict; Ethnic groups; Mediation; Minority & ethnic groups; Regular Articles; Reputations; Strength; War; reputation; agreement; civil war; ethnic group; mediation; excluded group
• ISSN: 0022-3433; 1460-3578
• DOI: 10.1177/0022343318811430

In this article, we argue that because governments fear that accepting mediation and reaching agreements with opponents may signal weakness to other potential challengers, civil war governments tend to resist mediation as a means of demonstrating their resolve. Building on current theories of reputation in civil war, we argue that the threat of future challenges from other groups is likely to be particularly acute in states with multiple ethnic groups, especially states with high levels of ethnic exclusion. We therefore expect that civil wars in these states will be less likely to see mediation and to produce agreements when they do. By examining all instances of mediation in intrastate conflict from 1990 to 2008, we test this argument empirically and find that mediation is more likely to emerge in civil wars where there are a large number of ethnic groups, but is less likely to occur when many of those ethnic groups are excluded from the political process. Once mediation is underway, however, it is less likely to yield a negotiated settlement when there are a large number of ethnic groups, but more likely to end in a negotiated settlement when many of the ethnic groups are excluded from the political process.