Miriam Coronel Ferrer. Costly Wars, Elusive Peace: Collected Articles on the Peace Processes in the Philippines, 1990–2007. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 2013. 359 pp.

• Main Author: Mariano-Capistrano, Pamela Joy
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2014
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/stjgs/vol2/iss1/7; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/stjgs/article/1050/viewcontent/ST_202.1_207_20Book_20review_20__20Capistrano.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Excerpt: Costly Wars, Elusive Peace was published in the same month a two-week stand-off in Zamboanga City occurred between the Philippine military and rogue Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces. Only a few months previously, an armed group claiming to represent the current Sultan of Sulu tried to reclaim Sabah (now part of Malaysia) in the name of the sultanate, raising fears that this would affect the peace agreement forged between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which Malaysia helped facilitate. These incidents again put the harsh spotlight on the Philippine government’s efforts at forging peace—not only with the Moro nationalist groups, but with armed insurgencies in general—and the role of foreign intervention in peace negotiations.