In US Army doctrine, end state and conditions describe the post-conflict future. End state implies the conclusion of conflict-that wars end. Many modern wars lack the clear delineation of winners and losers which enables the formation of peace agreements and achievement of final status resolution. Military planners therefore require a framework and conditions for successful conflict resolution which enables end state achievement. This monograph examines how wars end. The case studies include wars which ended in final status resolution, wars which attempted but failed to achieve final status resolution, and wars which continue in frozen conflict. Wars in Northern Ireland and between Israel and Egypt ended in final status resolution after years of negotiations and implementation. Conflict between Israel and the Palestinians failed to achieve final status resolution which resulted in the violent outburst of the second intifada. Frozen conflict exists in Cyprus and Nagorno-Karabakh, though negotiations continue to reach agreement. Peace processes are inherently dangerous because both failures and successes lead to increased violence in the subject area. Certain conditions, however, mitigate such danger. This monograph proposes that successful resolution of wars include the following factors in their frameworks: stability forces; conflict localization; engagement of proper parties and elimination of extraneous parties; partition or separation of warring populations; incentives towards peace; and ceasefires.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)