Summary: Date of publication: 08/06/2018 Description: This week we are going to hear from Dr Christine Cheng, lecturer in the Dept of War Studies, about the "Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project". This project was initiated by the UK Stabilisation Unit to look into political deal-making in societies affected by armed conflict and instability. As a reminder, the UK Stabilization Unit is the cross-governmental unit tasked with supporting UK government efforts to address instability overseas. In collaboration with the Stabilization Unit, Christine and two academics from SOAS produced a report based on the findings of the Elite Bargains and Political Deals Project. Their report breaks down the findings of 21 case-studies, commissioned by the Stabilisation Unit and written by country experts, in order to explore the relationship between elite bargains, the dynamics of armed conflict, and the effects of external interventions. In doing so, this report calls into question the use of traditional, internationally backed peace processes to stabilize armed conflicts and calls for a greater consideration of internal power dynamics in establishing sustainable agreements.
