The idea of studying peace - over studying war, genocide and political violence (hereafter violent conflict) and then inferring about peace - has gained considerable traction in the past few years after languishing in the shadows of conflict for decades but how should it be studied? The Peace Continuum offers a parallax view of how we think about peace and the complexities that surround the concept (i.e., the book explores the topic from different positions at the same time). Toward this end, we review existing literature and provide insights into how peace should be conceptualized - particularly as something more interesting than the absence of conflict. We provide an approach that can help scholars overcome what we see as the initial shock that comes with unpacking the 'zero' in the war-peace model of conflict studies. Additionally, we provide a framework for understanding how peace and conflict have/have not been related to one another in the literature. To reveal how the Peace Continuum could be applied, we put forward three alternative ways that peace could be studied. With this approach, the book is less trying to control the emerging peace research agenda than it is trying to assist in/encourage thinking about the topic that we all have some opinion on but that has yet to be measured and analyzed in a way comparable to political conflict and violence. Indeed, we attempt to help facilitate a veritable explosion of approaches and efforts to study peace.

Peace agreements have become necessary and legitimate tools for resolving conflicts and bringing about durable peace. This book adds to the already existing knowledge of peace agreements by carefully analysing African experiences of peace processes to identify how these can be enhanced in order to ensure positive and sustainable peace in strife-ridden areas. Case studies in eight African countries provide readers with a unique opportunity to study conflicts on the continent and to understand the factors that promote or undermine the success of peace agreements. The agreements under study in this volume include those of Angola, Burundi, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. The selection is based on the fact that they were finalised prior to 2005 and therefore allow for a richer analysis of their successes and shortfalls. The eight case studies by both academics and practitioners - Osita Agbu, Kasaija Phillip Apuuli, Lesley Connolly, Gregory Mthembu-Salter, Charles Nyuykonge, Justin Pearce, Anyway Sithole, Germain Ngoie Tshibambe and Siphamandla Zondi - offer in-depth insight on peacemaking in order to identify lessons and inform better practice in articulating and implementing peace agreements in Africa.