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"What’s in a Line? Is Partition a Solution to Civil War?"

Journal Article, International Security, volume 34, issue 2, pages 82-118

Fall 2009

Authors: Nicholas Sambanis, Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl

Belfer Center Programs or Projects: Quarterly Journal: International Security

 

Does territorial partition of countries in civil wars help to end these wars, reducing the risk of recurrence? Researchers have proposed territorial partition with or without formal recognition of sovereignty as a solution to civil wars and a way to create self-enforcing peace. Quantitative studies of the effect of partition on the risk of renewed civil war, however, suffer several main shortcomings, including conflicting results in the extant literature that result mainly from data coding differences, selective use of case histories, and methodological problems. A new data set and a benchmark empirical analysis find that, on average, partition is unlikely to reduce the risk of a return to civil war and, in some cases, may increase that risk.

 

 

For more information about this publication please contact the IS Editorial Assistant at 617-495-1914.

For Academic Citation:

Nicholas Sambanis and Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl. "What’s in a Line? Is Partition a Solution to Civil War?." International Security 34, no. 2 (Fall 2009): 82-118.

<em>International Security</em>

The Summer 2009 issue of the quarterly journal International Security is now available. It includes articles by Matthew Fuhrmann, Elizabeth Stanley, Daniel Lake, Christopher Layne, and more.

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