Citizen Networks For Agreement And Consultation in the Basque Country.

In cases of protracted conflict, the development of a peace process is often stymied by the fact that the search for the middle ground generally proves elusive as the extremists succeed in an ever escalating and polarizing outbidding contest for ethnic support. In the 1980s and early 1990s, attempts at a negotiated peace settlement to the Spanish/Basque conflict succumbed to such pressures. However, toward the end of the 1990s a grassroots movement in support of all-party dialogue, led by the group Elkarri, emerged. This movement has been successful in maintaining sufficient pressure on all parties to the conflict to keep a peace settlement on the political agenda. In this paper, I examine the emergence and evolution of the Basque Peace Congress fostered by Elkarri and its role in sustaining support for a peace process among all parties to the conflict. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]