Practitioner Report: Negotiating political integration of armed groups in an era of new conflict patterns and changing peacemaking practices

This report offers practical guidance for mediators and peace support actors seeking to facilitate peace in today’s rapidly changing conflict landscape. Drawing on case-based insights, it explores how peace processes can support the transition of non-state armed groups (NSAGs) from armed struggle to peaceful political participation. The global context in which such transitions take place has changed profoundly. Traditional liberal peacebuilding models are under strain and mediators are increasingly confronted with fragmented, transnational, or semi-authoritarian environments that challenge established assumptions about peacemaking. At the same time, new patterns of conflict, such as the internationalisation of internal wars, the fragmentation of armed groups, and the rise of actors with Islamist agendas, create additional complexities. The reliance on proscription as a political tool, the decline of comprehensive peace agreements, and the decline of multi-party democracy further narrow the space for negotiated political settlements. Meanwhile, a new generation of mediators from outside the traditional Western sphere are reshaping the ways peace can be facilitated, prompting both challenges and opportunities for international engagement. Against this backdrop, the report examines how mediators and other peace support actors can adapt their strategies to these new realities. This report calls for a renewed attention to political inclusion as a cornerstone of sustainable peace. It argues that political integration, understood as the transformation of armed groups into peaceful political stakeholders, remains an essential and achievable goal if approaches are adapted to the diverse and evolving realities of the particular conflict. The report concludes with a number of recommendations for mediators and practitioners, giving them concrete entry points to support conflict transformation, offering guidance on how to navigate fragmentation, engage proscribed or ideologically complex actors, sequence political and security reforms, and balance innovation with inclusivity in modern peacemaking efforts. Whether working at the national, regional, or community level, this report offers concrete frameworks, tools and options to support inclusive and sustainable conflict resolution through political transformation.