Room for accommodation: incentives, sanctions and conditionality in Northern Ireland
David Mitchell (2008)
What role did incentives, sanctions and conditionality play in the Northern Ireland peace process? David Mitchell reviews the early years of the peace process, the negotiations that led to the Belfast Agreement and the processes that followed the agreement. He argues that whilst the Northern Ireland case is replete with examples of conditions and sanctions, consistent and unambiguous conditions and sanctions were few and far between. He concludes that the case demonstrates three things: the importance of understanding what motivates a party; the necessary a balance between toughness and flexibility (room to back off from or modify conditions); and how incentives, sanctions and conditions work best when the peace process is well-managed, stable and coherent.