The Deception of Victory: The JVP in Sri Lanka and the Long-Term Dynamics of Rebel Reintegration

This article examines the 40-year history of post-conflict reintegration of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in Sri Lanka. This case study demonstrates that post-civil war reintegration can be as complex and important to peace following an outright military victory as following a formally negotiated settlement. This finding challenges a dominant assumption in the civil wars literature: that decisive military victories create a simpler and more enduring peace because they remove the complexities of reintegration. As this example and others warn, if one examines a war-torn society through a five, ten or 20-year timeframe, then a military victory can appear a powerful agent of peaceful stability, negating the reintegration requirements of negotiated settlements. But if one applies a lens of 40 years or more, then a picture of repetitive violence can emerge that seriously questions the efficacy of military victory in securing long-term peaceful stability. Instead, as in cases of negotiated settlement, it is the complex dynamics of reintegration that come to the fore as a core condition for durable peace.