The Role of Political Parties in Civil War Peace Processes Outside Their Own Country - A New Internationalism? A Case Study of Sinn Féin and its Involvement in Three Foreign Peace Processes

Abstract

The existing literature on third party involvement in peace processes has largely overlooked the role of foreign political parties. This qualitative research tackles this gap by examining the involvement of foreign political parties in civil war peace processes, using Sinn Féin's involvement in the Basque, Colombian, and Sri Lankan peace processes as case studies. This study employs an interpretive method of historical analysis to ascertain the reasons for the emergence of these engagements in contemporary peace processes, and its impact. Twenty-two semi-structured and structured interviews were conducted with senior representatives and participants to gain insider and elite perspectives on the engagements. Theories regarding the local turn in liberal peacebuilding, spoilers, ripeness, rebel-to-party transitions, and the impact of third parties on peace processes are examined and utilised across the three case studies to answer the research questions regarding the motivations for these engagements, what it involves, and its impact. The findings of this research demonstrate that foreign political party engagement emerged in response to the geopolitical changes that occurred after the Cold War ended and in response to the hegemonic rise of the liberal peace. It suggests that the engagements focus on enabling the liberal peace to go hand-in-hand with demands for self-determination and national liberation. The findings also reveal that foreign political party engagement is multidimensional, occurring at the different levels of conflict resolution and various stages of peacemaking. It highlights that the motivation for these engagements is to strengthen rebel movements engaged in peace processes, particularly during rebel-to-party transitions, marking it as a new manner of internationalism. The study concludes that the impact of these engagements on peace processes is mixed, with the impact of the soft power available to foreign political parties restricted when faced with hard power interventions. The findings suggest that the impact of the engagements is dependent on the similarity of the local context to the peace process experience of the foreign political party, and that existing historical connections between the foreign political party and the local rebel movement can enhance the impact.