Gene Carolan, a PhD candidate in International Law and Peace Studies at Maynooth University Department of Law, was recently published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research.
Gene’s paper, which was informed by elements of his ongoing Doctoral research, explored the ways in which increasingly ‘hard’ legal instruments have contributed to more sustainable processes of conflict resolution in the southern Philippines. Though the region was beset by violence for some 40 years, it is now enjoying a period of relative peace established under a comprehensive and highly legalized 2014 peace agreement. Gene argues that the Philippine experience may serve as an example to other conflict zones seeking to emerge from protracted cycles of violence, such as Ukraine and Syria.
In her introduction to the Journal, Professor Jane Ireland of the University of Central Lancashire described the paper as ‘presenting what is one of the most complex applications of our work – namely, applying the principles of intervention and peace to a real-life and large scale problem that can seem insurmountable.’ The paper is available online.
Gene’s doctoral research critically evaluates the protracted peace processes in the Philippines, Sudan and Sierra Leone, with a view to identifying the legal provisions that are central to peace agreement sustainability. Among other outputs, his research has previously informed a Conflict Analysis workshop at a European External Action Service conference in Moldova.