The Cyprus Problem

In today's world, the issue of Cyprus is notable for all the wrong reasons: because of the duration of the divisions in Cyprus itself between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots (formalized since 1983 by a disputed international border across the island); because of the involvement of Greece and Turkey, for which the "hyphenated" Cypriot communities form proxy battalions; and because of the failure of the United Nations' longstanding efforts to resolve the conflict. Much of the discussion in the book revolves around the difficulty of producing viable constitutional and civic arrangements in an.

For nearly 60 years, the tiny Mediterranean nation of Cyprus has taken a disproportionate share of the international spotlight. In The Cyprus Problem, James Ker-Lindsay--recently appointed as expert advisor to the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Cyprus--offers an incisive, even-handed account of the conflict. Ker-Lindsay covers all aspects of the Cyprus problem, placing it in historical context, addressing the situation as it now stands, and looking toward its possible resolution.

The five versions of the comprehensive settlement plan for Cyprus, which UN Secretary-General Annan tabled between 2002 and 2004, raised a variety of international law and European law questions. This book contains the first systematic analysis of the Annan plan, thereby providing an overview of the legal aspects of the Cyprus problem. It also discusses how the plan was intended to be accommodated in the European legal order. Did it comply with the fundamental principle of democracy, rule of law and human rights? Would a united Cyprus have been able to speak with one voice and to implement EU law properly? The Author, who has worked both for the European Commission and for the UN Special Advisor on Cyprus, presents a precise account of facts and thorough legal assessments. He also tackles current legal problems arising out of Cyprus' membership in the EU and the suspension of the "acquis communautaire" in the northern part of Cyprus. He finally analyses how the question of recognition affects the relations between Cyprus and Turkey. The book is an ideal choice for practitioners and researchers because it combines first hand information on the most recent developments on Cyprus with legal evaluations from an international official trained in international and European law.

The Cyprus conflict was for long an inactive volcano, but it erupted violently in 1955, 1963 and 1974. Now more of a smouldering fire, its persistence is a serious obstacle on Turkey's route to EU accession. Uniquely utilizing Turkish sources, this book looks at how the conflict has developed since 1978.

This book is not another history of the Cyprus problem. It is an analysis of the forces and policies which led to the traumatic experience of 1974 and the geographical separation of the two largest Cypriot communities (the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots). Also, it is an analysis of those forces which keep the island divided. Why is Cyprus a divided island? What led to this division? What forces keep the two communities apart? Why was the Annan Plan rejected? How important is the role of the "motherlands"? Are there any geostrategic interests? Why is Cyprus important in the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean? This book deals with these and other questions, and the analysis is based on declassified documents and other primary material.

The island of Cyprus has been bitterly divided for more than four decades. One of the most divisive elements of the Cyprus conflict is the writing of its history, a history called on by both communities to justify and explain their own notions of justice. While for Greek Cypriots the history of Cyprus begins with ancient Greece, for the Turkish Cypriot community the history of the island begins with the Ottoman conquest of 1571. The singular narratives both sides often employ to tell the story of the island are, as this volume argues, a means of continuing the battle which has torn the island apart, and an obstacle to resolution. Cyprus and the Politics of Memory re-orientates history-writing on Cyprus from a tool of division to a form of dialogue, and explores a way forward for the future of conflict resolution in the region.

In the lead essay for this volume, Joshua Foa Dienstag engages in a critical encounter with the work of Stanley Cavell on cinema, focusing skeptical attention on the claims made for the contribution of cinema to the ethical character of democratic life. In this debate, Dienstag mirrors the celebrated dialogue between Rousseau and Jean D'Alembert on theatre, casting Cavell as D'Alembert in his view that we can learn to become better citizens and better people by observing a staged representation of human life, with Dienstag arguing, with Rousseau, that this misunderstands the relationship between original and copy, even more so in the medium of film than in the medium of theatre. Dienstag's provocative and stylish essay is debated by an exceptional group of interlocutors comprising Clare Woodford, Tracy B. Strong, Margaret Kohn, Davide Panagia and Thomas Dumm. The volume closes with a robust response from Dienstag to his critics.