Negotiated Settlements and Government Strategy in Civil War: Evidence from Darfur

This article examines how governments can use peace processes to advance their political interests and improve their prospects for future counterinsurgency operations. It argues that governments devise strategies to co-opt rebel factions in negotiated settlements, conditional on their support in counterinsurgency and intelligence provision against non-signatory factions. By dividing and weakening non-signatory factions, this strategy allows governments simultaneously to preserve their international reputation by cooperating in peace processes and to enhance their relative capabilities in future rounds of counterinsurgency. A detailed case study of the Sudanese government's strategy in the Darfur civil war demonstrates the argument's plausibility.