Mac Ginty (2006): Highlights examples of ongoing conflict despite peace ostensibly being reached through a formal process that often went beyond simply ceasing hostilities.
Mac Ginty (2006:2-3): “many contemporary peace accords have failed to deliver durable, high-quality peace. Instead, the peace that prevails is often prefixed with terms attesting to its compromised quality: ‘brittle’, ‘fragile’, ‘turbulent’, ‘armed’, ‘nervous’ and so on. Many of the characteristics of the ‘prefix peace’ resemble those of the war that preceded it: inter-group tension and systematic discrimination against out-groups, widespread insecurity arising from the presence of armed groups, grinding poverty with few prospects for economic advancement, militarism, poor provision of public goods and a profound disconnection between government and people. Rather than peace, many post-peace accord societies experience a ‘no war, no peace’ situation: a grudging hiatus in violent conflict crowned with an internationally supported peace accord that finds little approval at home after initial enthusiasm has worn off.”
Mac Ginty (2006:63): “Political tension, structural discrimination, campaigns of harassment and inter-group verbal intimidation are all actions short of direct violence, yet they constitute core elements of many conflicts. They can occur before and after, or alongside, the direct violence phase of a conflict.”