Resolving Cyprus: New Approaches to Conflict Resolution

Over the past fifty years the Cyprus Problem has come to be regarded as the archetype of an intractable ethnic conflict. Since 1964, the United Nations has been at the forefront of efforts to find a political solution to the dispute between the island's Greek and Turkish communities. And yet, despite the active involvement of six Secretaries-General (U Thant, Kurt Waldheim, Javier Perez de Cuellar, Boutros Boutros Ghali, Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-Moon), every attempt to reach a mutually acceptable solution has failed. Here, James Ker-Lindsay draws together new and original perspectives from the leading experts on Cyprus, including academics, policy-makers, politicians and activists. All have addressed one deceptively simple question: 'Can Cyprus be solved?'

Resolving Cyprus presents a comprehensive overview of the Cyprus Problem from a variety of approaches and offers new and innovative ideas as to how to tackle one of the longest running ethnic conflicts on the world stage. This represents an essential contribution to the body of work on Cyprus, and will be required reading for all those following the debates surrounding the Cyprus problem.

James Ker-Lindsay is Eurobank EFG Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. His previous books on Cyprus include: The Work of the UN in Cyprus: Promoting Peace and Development ( 2001, edited with Oliver Richmond), Britain and the Cyprus Crisis, 1963-64 (2004), EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus (2005), The Government and Politics of Cyprus (2009, edited with Hubert Faustmann), The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know (2011), and An Island in Europe: The EU and the Transformation of Cyprus (2011, edited with Hubert Faustmann and Fiona Mullen). From 2006-2011, he served as co-editor of The Cyprus Review, the leading journal dedicated to social science and history in Cyprus. In addition to his academic work, he has advised a number of government and international organisations, including the Council of Europe, the European Commission and the United Nations. He is also a regular media commentator, and has covered Cyprus politics for the Economist Intelligence Unit.