Since the end of the Cold War, hundreds of agreements, including more than 35 comprehensive peace accords, have been signed by combatants engaged in armed conflicts around the world. Many have since collapsed into violent confrontation. Some have been followed not by peace but by stalemate, economic struggle, and crime. Others have resulted in lasting peace. What makes the difference? And how can we improve the chances that a peace process will succeed?
To help answer these and related questions, the Kroc Institute has developed the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM), a unique source of comparable data on peace agreements. PAM allows scholars and practitioners to compare more than 50 different themes in all the comprehensive peace agreements signed since 1989.
This interactive database was developed with support from the United States Institute of Peace and the National Science Foundation. PAM is directed by Kroc professor John Darby and associate director Madhav Joshi. The team works closely with the Uppsala Conflict Data Program at Uppsala University in Sweden.
The Kroc Institute also has received funding from the National Science Foundation for research on the role of third parties in peace processes, especially in the post-conflict period. This project, which also is a partnership with Uppsala Conflict Data Program, is led by Erik Melander, Peter Wallensteen, John Darby, and Madhav Joshi. In a related effort, researchers are working to define the concept of "quality peace" — one that goes beyond the end of violence to include durable peace as the outcome of successful peace processes.
