Towards a typology of ceasefires: order amid violence

Figures & data

Table 1. A typology of ceasefires as wartime order.

	Ceasefire text
Power disparity	Detailed	Vague
Symmetrical	Substantive Key feature: Specific security arrangements	Interim Key feature: Monitoring mechanism
Asymmetrical	Coercive Key feature: Surrender agreement	Symbolic Key feature: Aspirational

Table 2. Major ceasefires in the Syrian civil war.

Year	Ceasefire	Ceasefire type	Where	Main parties to agreement
2012	Kofi Annan’s 6-point peace plan	Interim	Whole country	UN, Arab League, Syria
February 2016	Cessation of Hostilities (Geneva peace process)	Symbolic	Whole country	US, Russia
August 2016 - ongoing	Reconciliation agreements	Coercive	First in Daraya	Syria, Russia, local authorities
May 2017 - ongoing	De-escalation zones (Astana-Sochi peace process)	Substantive	Four demarcated territorial zones	Russia, Turkey, Iran