Identifier

138

Date

2018

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Political Science

Concentration

International Studies

Committee Member

Leah Windsor

Abstract

Violent conflict in Colombia has been ongoing since the 1960's. This is a complicated conflict, involving multiple non-state actors and representing a multitude of issues including domestic territorial disputes, narcotics (narco) trafficking, and years of violence on all sides. Many rounds of peace treaties have failed to achieve a lasting and durable resolution to the conflict. Interestingly, peace treaties themselves offer insight into the dynamics of the conflict, representing the issues and actors involved. By examining the language and issues in successive rounds of treaties, it is possible to chart the evolution of the conflict, demonstrate how it has changed, and whether the most recent agreement in 2016 is likely to last. Using computational linguistics, I analyze the language of peace treaties for topics and sentiment to show the progression of issues over time. I find that computational linguistics allows one to understand the emotional language depicted in each peace treaty and correlate it with the outcome. This research speaks to a broader question of what issues or factors contribute to more durable, lasting peace treaties.

Comments

Undergraduate Honor's Thesis

Library Comment

Honors thesis originally submitted to the Local University of Memphis Honor’s Thesis Repository.

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