“Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria”

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Abstract:

Ceasefires are often seen as way to halt violence with the aim of facilitating more lasting peace agreements. It can however be argued that a ceasefire is rarely ever just a “cease fire”. Instead, using examples from the Syrian civil war, Marika Sosnowski demonstrates that ceasefires are not only military tactics but are also tools of wartime order and statebuilding. Bringing together rare primary documents and first-hand interviews with over eighty Syrians and other experts, Sosnowski offers original insights how ceasefires can affect elements of statebuilding like local governance, citizenship and property rights, humanitarian access and economic networks. The findings have relevance not only for Syria but for other current wars like Ukraine and Gaza.

Marika Sosnowski is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Melbourne Law School and a Research Associate at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg.