A Farewell to Arms? From Long War to Long Peace in Northern Ireland

The last decade has been the most momentous in Northern Ireland's checkered history--a 30 year war finally and painfully began to wind down, starting in August 1994 with the first Republican cease-fire and concluding more than three years later with the historic Good Friday Agreement. But what brought the war to an unexpected end? Why did the IRA decide to abandon the armed struggle? And what are the chances for a permanent settlement of the Irish Question? These are just three of the questions this wide-ranging study seeks to address.