Temporary agreement to stop a war
A
ceasefire
(also known as a
truce
or
armistice
[1]
), also spelled
cease fire
(the
antonym
of 'open fire'
[2]
), is a stoppage of a
war
in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions, often due to mediation by a third party.
[3]
[4]
Ceasefires may be between state actors or involve non-state actors.
[1]
Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal
treaty
, but also as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces.
[2]
They may occur via mediation or otherwise as part of a
peace process
or be imposed by
United Nations Security Council
resolutions via Chapter VII of the
United Nations Charter
.
[2]
The immediate goal of a ceasefire is to stop violence, but the underlying purposes of ceasefires vary. Ceasefires may be intended to meet short-term limited needs (such as providing humanitarian aid), manage a conflict to make it less devastating, or advance efforts to peacefully resolve a dispute.
[1]
An actor may not always intend for a ceasefire to advance the peaceful resolution of a conflict, but instead give the actor an upper hand in the conflict (for example, by re-arming and repositioning forces or attacking an unsuspecting adversary), which creates
bargaining problems
that may make ceasefires less likely to be implemented and less likely to be durable if implemented.
[3]
[1]
[5]
The durability of ceasefire agreements is affected by several factors, such as demilitarized zones, withdrawal of troops and third-party guarantees and monitoring (e.g.
peacekeeping
). Ceasefire agreements are more likely to be durable when they reduce incentives to attack, reduce uncertainty about the adversary's intentions, and when mechanisms are put in place to prevent accidents from spiraling into conflict.
[3]
Overview
[
edit
]
Ceasefire agreements are more likely to be reached when the costs of conflict are high and when the actors in a conflict have lower
audience costs
.
[6]
Scholars emphasize that war termination is more likely to occur when actors have more information about each other, when actors can make credible commitments, and when the domestic political situation makes it possible for leaders to make war termination agreements without incurring domestic punishment.
[7]
By one estimate, there were at least 2202 ceasefires across 66 countries in 109 civil conflicts over the period 1989?2020.
[1]
Historical examples
[
edit
]
Historically, the concept of a ceasefire existed at least by the time of the Middle Ages, when it was known as a
'truce of God'
.
[8]
World War I
[
edit
]
During
World War I
, on December 24, 1914, there was an
unofficial ceasefire
on the
Western Front
as
France
, the
United Kingdom
, and
Germany
observed
Christmas
. There are accounts that claimed the unofficial ceasefire took place throughout the week leading to Christmas, and that British and German troops exchanged seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches.
[9]
The ceasefire was brief but spontaneous. Beginning when German soldiers lit
Christmas trees
, it quickly spread up and down the Western Front.
[10]
One account described the development in the following words:
It was good to see the human spirit prevailed amongst all sides at the front, the sharing and fraternity. All was well until the higher echelons of command got to hear about the effect of the ceasefire, whereby their wrath ensured a return to hostilities.
[11]
There was no peace treaty signed during the
Christmas truce
, and the war resumed after a few days.
Karachi Agreement
[
edit
]
The
Karachi Agreement
of 1949 was signed by the military representatives of India and Pakistan, supervised by the
United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan
, establishing a cease-fire line in
Kashmir
following the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
.
[12]
Korean War
[
edit
]
On November 29, 1952, the US
president-elect
,
Dwight D. Eisenhower
, went to Korea to see how to end the
Korean War
. With the
UN
's acceptance of
India
's proposed armistice, the ceasefire between the
UN Command
on the one side and the
Korean People's Army
(KPA) and the
People's Volunteer Army
(PVA) on the other took hold at approximately the
38th parallel north
. These parties signed the
Korean Armistice Agreement
on July 27, 1953
[13]
[14]
but South Korean President
Syngman Rhee
, who attacked the ceasefire proceedings, did not.
[15]
Upon agreeing to the ceasefire which called upon the governments of South Korea, the
United States
, North Korea and
China
to participate in continued peace talks, the principal
belligerents
of the war established the
Korean Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ) and it has since been patrolled by the joint
Republic of Korea Army
, US, and UN Command on the one side and the KPA on the other. The war is considered to have ended at that point even though there still is no peace treaty.
Vietnam War
[
edit
]
On New Years Day, 1968,
Pope Paul VI
convinced
South Vietnam
and the United States to declare a 24-hour-truce. However, the
Viet Cong
and
North Vietnam
did not adhere to the truce, and ambushed the 2nd Battalion,
Republic of Vietnam Marine Division
, 10 minutes after midnight in
M? Tho
. The Viet Cong would also attack a
U.S. Army
fire support base near
Saigon
, causing more casualties.
[16]
On January 15, 1973, US President
Richard Nixon
ordered a ceasefire of the aerial bombings in
North Vietnam
. The decision came after
Henry Kissinger
, the
National Security Advisor
to the President, returned to
Washington, D.C.
, from
Paris, France
, with a draft peace proposal. Combat missions continued in
South Vietnam
. By January 27, 1973, all parties of the
Vietnam War
signed a ceasefire as a prelude to the
Paris Peace Accord
.
Gulf War
[
edit
]
After
Iraq
was driven out of
Kuwait
by US-led coalition forces during
Operation Desert Storm
, Iraq and the
UN Security Council
signed a ceasefire agreement on March 3, 1991.
[17]
Subsequently, throughout the 1990s, the
U.N. Security Council
passed numerous resolutions calling for Iraq to disarm its
weapons of mass destruction
unconditionally and immediately. Because no peace treaty was signed after the
Gulf War
, the war still remained in effect, including an alleged assassination attempt of former US President
George H. W. Bush
by Iraqi agents while on a visit to Kuwait;
[
citation needed
]
Iraq being bombed in June 1993
as a response, Iraqi forces firing on coalition aircraft patrolling the
Iraqi no-fly zones
, US President
Bill Clinton
's bombing of Baghdad in 1998 during
Operation Desert Fox
, and an earlier 1996 bombing of Iraq by the US during
Operation Desert Strike
. The war remained in effect until 2003, when US and UK forces
invaded Iraq
and toppled
Saddam Hussein
's regime from power.
Kashmir conflict
[
edit
]
A UN-mediated ceasefire was agreed between
India
and
Pakistan
, on 1 January 1949, ending the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
(also called the 1947 Kashmir War). Fighting broke out between the two newly independent countries in
Kashmir
in October 1947, with India intervening on behalf of the princely ruler of Kashmir, who had joined India, and Pakistan supporting the rebels. The fighting was limited to Kashmir, but, apprehensive that it might develop into a full-scale international war, India referred the matter to the UN Security Council under Article 35 of the UN Charter, which addresses situations "likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace". The Security Council set up the dedicated
United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan
, which mediated for an entire year as the fighting continued. After several UN resolutions outlining a procedure for resolving the dispute via a
plebiscite
, a ceasefire agreement was reached between the countries towards the end of December 1948, which came into effect in the New Year. The Security Council set up the
United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan
(UNMOGIP) to monitor the ceasefire line.
[18]
India declared a ceasefire in Kashmir Valley during Ramadan in 2018.
[19]
Northern Ireland
[
edit
]
The
Irish Republican Army
held several Christmas ceasefires (usually referred to as truces) during the Northern Ireland conflict.
[20]
[21]
Israeli?Palestinian conflict
[
edit
]
An example of a ceasefire in the
Israeli?Palestinian conflict
was announced between
Israel
and the
Palestinian National Authority
on February 8, 2005. When announced, chief
Palestinian
negotiator
Saeb Erekat
publicly defined the ceasefire as follows: "We have agreed that today President
Mahmoud Abbas
will declare a full cessation of violence against Israelis anywhere and Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon
will declare a full cessation of violence and military activities against Palestinians anywhere."
[22]
On November 21, 2023, Qatar announced that they had negotiated a truce between Israel and Hamas would pause
Gaza fighting
, allow for the release of some hostages and bring more aid to Palestinian civilians. As part of the deal, 50 Hamas held hostages are to be released while Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners.
[23]
Syrian Civil War
[
edit
]
Several attempts have been made to broker ceasefires in the
Syrian Civil War
.
[24]
[25]
[26]
2020 global ceasefire
[
edit
]
The 2020 global ceasefire was a response to a formal appeal by United Nations Secretary-General
Antonio Manuel de Oliveira Guterres
on March 23 for a global ceasefire as part of the United Nations' response to the COVID-19
coronavirus pandemic
. On 24 June 2020, 170 UN Member States and Observers signed a non-binding statement in support of the appeal, rising to 172 on 25 June 2020, and on 1 July 2020, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding a general and immediate global cessation of hostilities for at least 90 days.
[27]
[28]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies
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ISBN
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- ^
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- ^
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- ^
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.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Clayton Govinda, Nygard Havard Mokleiv, Strand Havard, Rustad Siri Aas, Wiehler Claudia, Sagard Tora, Landsverk Peder, Ryland Reidun, Sticher Valerie, Wink Emma, Bara Corrine. 2022. “Introducing the Civil Conflict Ceasefire Dataset.”
Journal of Conflict Resolution
.
- Akebo, Malin. (2016).
Ceasefire Agreements and Peace Processes: A Comparative Study
. Routledge.
- Colletta, Nat. (2011). "Mediating ceasefires and cessations of hostilities agreements in the framework of peace processes." In
Peacemaking: From Practice to Theory
. Praeger, 135?147.
- Forster, Robert A. (2019).
Ceasefires
. In
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies
. Palgrave.
- Fortna, Virginia Page. (2004).
Peace Time: Cease-fire Agreements and the Durability of Peace
. Princeton University Press.
- Williams, R., Gustafson, D., Gent, S., & Crescenzi, M. (2021). "
A latent variable approach to measuring and explaining peace agreement strength.
"
Political Science Research and Methods,
9
(1), 89?105.
External links
[
edit
]