Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2025
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Laura Huber
Second Advisor
Craig Morris
Third Advisor
Timothy Nordstrom
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis examines how different war termination types—decisive military victory, negotiated settlement, and ceasefire—shape long-term political stability through the mechanisms of enforcement, political inclusion, and economic recovery. While much of the existing literature focuses on civil wars, this study applies those insights to interstate conflicts, arguing that stability depends not on how wars end, but on whether post-war structures support compliance, legitimacy, and economic resilience. The central claim is that post-war peace is more likely to endure when enforcement mechanisms deter spoilers, inclusive political frameworks prevent renewed grievances, and economic recovery restores state capacity and legitimacy. Using a most similar systems design, this study compares three cases that vary by termination type while controlling for regional tensions, international involvement, and Cold War context. The Korean War (1950–1953) serves as an example of a ceasefire that led to enduring stability due to strong external enforcement and economic recovery in South Korea. The Vietnam War illustrates a failed negotiated settlement—the Paris Peace Accords—followed by a military victory that produced conditional stability under authoritarian control but without political inclusion. The Arab-Israeli conflicts are analyzed through three outcomes: the 1967 Six- Day War (military victory), the 1973 Yom Kippur War (ceasefire), and the 1978 Camp David Accords (negotiated settlement). These cases demonstrate that even decisive victories and formal agreements may fail when lacking key post-war mechanisms. The findings support the hypothesis that peace agreements are generally more likely to succeed, followed by military victories, and then ceasefires, but only when they are paired with iii robust enforcement, inclusive governance, and meaningful economic recovery. In their absence, any form of war termination can unravel. This study contributes to the broader literature on international security by highlighting how enforcement structures, political legitimacy, and economic integration—not battlefield outcomes—ultimately determine whether peace is sustained after interstate war.
Recommended Citation
Thigpen, Emery C., "Beyond Victory and Settlement: Rethinking War Termination Through Post-Conflict Conditions" (2025). Honors Theses. 3267.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3267
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