Peacebuilding in Cyprus: Ethno-Federal Approaches and Security in the Cyprus Conflict

Negotiations for the settlement of the Cyprus Question have resumed amidst a pressing geopolitical and economic reality. Greek and Turkish Cypriots, however, have adopted distinct interpretations of the UN designated peace plan for a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation in Cyprus. These interpretations are mainly driven by their underlying security considerations. Peace Building in Cyprus shines new light on conceptual security considerations as behavioural drivers and hindrances to the acceptance of institutional provisions for ethno-federal state building in Cyprus.
Adopting a rational actor approach, Pavlos Koktsidis identifies contrasting views on selected institutional provisions, and links them to each community’s security perceptions through survey data and leadership assessments. This new primary data reveals the impact of security perceptions on leadership-behaviour patterns - especially the prevalence of fear, uncertainty, and mistrust. Additional attention is paid to the impact of psychological trauma and the lack of cognitive accuracy in decision-making processes. This will be an essential read for students, scholars and policy-makers studying the Cyprus conflict.

Pavlos Ioannis Koktsidis is a Research Associate at the Southeast European Research Association in Athens and an Adjunct Lecturer and Researcher at the University of Cyprus. He received his PhD in Security and Conflict Studies from the Queen’s University of Belfast.