Research by Brittany McWilliams
For my capstone research, I am focusing on the recent peace agreement that ended the fifty year long civil war between the FARC and the Colombian government. I think this is one of the most relevant developments of my
Research by Brittany McWilliams
For my capstone research, I am focusing on the recent peace agreement that ended the fifty year long civil war between the FARC and the Colombian government. I think this is one of the most relevant developments of my lifetime and of modern history in general. Not only was this historic because it ended the world’s longest running civil war, but it also has beamed hope onto many other armed conflicts around the world.
Many thought that this peace agreement was not possible. The FARC has terrorized the people of Colombia for decades. They have been responsible for the death of over 200,000 people, the majority of whom were civilians. The conflict resulted in the internal displacement of millions of people. What’s more is the FARC had a well-established and incredibly profitable illicit drug trade in place. Nevertheless, the negotiations were agreed upon and the Colombian people voted them into being. For my research, I have worked to explore why this seemingly impossible negotiation became possible and why it will continue to be successful. Pinpointing the elements that made this process work is of the utmost importance because it will ultimately have such a wide applicability to armed conflicts around the world, particularly in Africa, but in other areas as well. Though there are many elements to these negotiations and their