The main purpose of this project was to understand the problem of political violence with reference to a new framework of analysis which treats violence as a kind of discourse of power with its own dynamic. As such, the phenomenon of political violence was probed from an "interior" as well as an exterior perspective. By linking internal and external factors it is possible to see how the sheer momentum of violence may create a situation which does not respond easily to changes in the external situation, or may respond in ways which are not anticipated.
Case studies were carried out in Colombia, Italy, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Peru, South Africa, Spain, and Sri Lanka.