PLCS 10 (2003)
Articles/Artigos

The Politics of Negative Peace: Mozambique in the Aftermath of the Rome Cease-Fire Agreement

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62791/7kf9xt71

Published 2017-03-13

Abstract

Abstract: This paper discusses the Mozambican post-conflict order that ensued from the Rome peace negotiations. Drawing from an analytical framework that posits a tension between negative and positive peace, it argues that the peace achieved by the Rome negotiations may not be as stable as is generally assumed. The reasons for this are to be found in the negotiation process itself. The paper suggests that peace was bought from the warring parties in exchange for the promise of development aid. While this may have been necessary to bring the conflict to an end, it may have been at the expense of a long-lasting peace that might have included, for example, the settlement of human rights issues.