DISARM: How post-accord disarmament affects peace and conflict dynamics

DISARM: How post-accord disarmament affects peace and conflict dynamics
Photo: UN Photo/Martine Perret
Led by Júlia Palik
Sep 2021 - Mar 2025

​​​Since the 1990s, the international community has invested heavily in disarmament programs which are seen as an integral part of interventions aimed at building peace in post-accord countries. In reality, however, scholars and policymakers know little about how the various disarmament programs differ from one another in their design and impact.

DISARM will fill in these gaps by analyzing the conditions under which disarmament can prevent conflict recurrence in post-accord countries. We apply a strong gender focus throughout the project. We will apply a mixed-method research design which combines large, medium, and small-N research. In the large-N statistical analysis, we collect data on disarmament provisions in all intra-state peace agreements between 1975 and 2020 and examine the relationship between disarmament and conflict recurrence. Based on the results of the large-N component, we select and qualitatively compare 25 cases of disarmament focusing on the negotiation as well as implementation phases of disarmament, and the gendered dimensions of these processes. 

To identify causal pathways through which disarmament can impact conflict recurrence, we also conduct four in-depth qualitative case studies on disarmament in Namibia, Mozambique, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Taken together, the findings will allow DISARM to develop a novel set of propositions on disarmament that integrates a gender lens.

DISARM constitutes the first systematic global study of post-accord disarmament across space and time, enabling us to identify conditions under which disarmament was and was not able to prevent conflict recurrence and thus to break new ground in studying the micro-foundations of peace. The project will provide critical input to stakeholders in disarmament by providing empirically sound and gender-sensitive policy recommendations on disarmament design.

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Article

Gómez Triana, David Felipe; Jerónimo Rios Sierra & Heriberto Cairo (2023) The political discourse of Comunes regarding FARC-EP dissidents in Colombia, Critical Studies on Security. DOI: 10.1080/21624887.2023.2184101: 1–23.
Gómez Triana, David Felipe & Jerónimo Rios Sierra (2022) Armed Violence in the Llanos Orientales Region Following the Signing of the Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP in Colombia, Journal of Strategic Security 15(3): 62–79.

Book Chapter

Gómez Triana, David Felipe (2022) Dinámicas de la violencia en los llanos orientales tras la firma del acuerdo de paz con las FARC-EP [Violence Dynamics in the Western Region after the Peace Agreement with FARC-EP], in Jerónimo Rios Sierra, ed., Donde está la paz territorial? Violencia(s) y conflict armado tras el Acuerdo de Paz con las FARC-EP. Madrid: SILEX Universidad (141–170).

Popular Article

Bennett, Monique (2023) How to silence the guns in Cabo Delgado, Mail and Guardian, 5 April.
Palik, Júlia (2023) Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration in Ethiopia: What to expect, Political Violence at a Glance, 31 January.

Conference Paper

Palik, Júlia (2023) Still lacking representation: Women and minors in DDR provisions (1975-2021), presented at Folke Bernadotte Academy research presentation, Stockholm, FBA, 28 February 2023.
Palik, Júlia; Mauricio Rivera; Nicholas Marsh & David Felipe Gómez Triana (2022) Disaggregating Security Specific Provisions In Peace Agreements: The Disarmament, Demobilization, And Reintegration (DDR) Dataset, 1975-2021, presented at AFK Empirical Peace and Conflict Research Workshop, Sandbjerg, Denmark, 28 September – 1 October, 2022..

PRIO Policy Brief

Cossa, Sheila Marcela Dinis & Júlia Palik (2023) Women and DDR in Mozambique: The Exclusionary and Inclusionary Dynamics of DDR Programs, GPS Policy Brief, 1. Oslo: PRIO.
Cossa, Sheila Marcela Dinis & Júlia Palik (2023) Mulheres e DDR em Moçambique: A Dinâmica Excludente e Inclusiva dos Programas de DDR, GPS Policy Brief, 1. Oslo: PRIO.
Gómez, David Felipe; Ida Rødningen; Nicholas Marsh & Júlia Palik (2022) Negotiating Disarmament – The Gender Dimension: Barriers to the Inclusion of Women in Disarmament Negotiations, GPS Policy Brief, 5. Oslo: PRIO.
Marsh, Nicholas & Júlia Palik (2021) Negotiating Disarmament: Lessons Learnt from Colombia, Nepal, the Philippines, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, PRIO Policy Brief, 9. Oslo: PRIO.

PRIO Paper

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