Analysis if armed conflicts often focus on the fighting parties and their behaviour. In this EBA report the authors argues that achieving sustainable peace requires an issue-based approach, emphasizing the core issues that parties fight for. This provides better opportunities to build peace agreements that make for more lasting peace.
This perspective is highly relevant for those who work on peace processes and in conflict affected situations. Armed conflicts are at a record high, with the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) documenting 59 state-based conflicts in 2023, the most since 1946. The majority of these conflicts are intrastate, causing severe humanitarian crises in countries such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Syria. Conflict exacerbates food insecurity, poverty, inequality, and forced displacement, creating a “conflict trap” where violence and underdevelopment reinforce each other. In short, war is development in reverse. Resolving intrastate conflict is critical to breaking this cycle and working towards greater peace and prosperity. This report
The report centers on two central questions: 1) What are the issues that parties fight over? And 2) How do conflict issues affect negotiations and peace agreements? An issue typology and a global mapping of conflict issues is presented. The report then demonstrates that peace agreements addressing a higher share of conflict issues increase the likelihood of lasting peace. The findings, drawn from newly developed datasets, offer actionable recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in conflict resolution, from negotiations to implementation.