The book begins with an agenda-setting introduction which will provide an overview of the central question being addressed, such as the circumstances associated with the move towards a political settlement, the parameters of this settlement and the factors that have assisted in bringing it about. The remaining contributions will focus on a range of cases selected for their diversity and their capacity to highlight the full gamut of political approaches to conflict resolution. The cases vary in:

• the intensity of the conflict (from Belgium, where it is potential rather than actual, to Sri Lanka, where it has come to a recent violent conclusion);
• in the geopolitical relationship between the competing groups (from Cyprus, where they are sharply segregated geographically, to Northern Ireland, where they are intermingled);
• in the extent to which a stable constitutional accommodation has been reached (ranging from the Basque Country, with a large range of unresolved problems, to South Africa, which has achieved a significant level of institutional stability).

This book ranges over the world’s major geopolitical zones, including Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe and will be of interest to practitioners in the field of international security.

This book was published as a special issue of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics.

John Coakley is Head of the School of Politics and International Relations in University College Dublin. He has published extensively on nationalism and ethnic conflict, and has recently edited or co-edited The Territorial Management of Ethnic Conflict (2nd ed., Frank Cass, 2003), Politics in the Republic of Ireland (4th ed., Routledge, 2004), Renovation or revolution? New territorial politics in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UCD Press, 2005) and Crossing the border: new relationships between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Irish Academic Press, 2007).