Desirée Nilsson is a Professor in Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. With over 20 years' experience in studying civil war dynamics and resolution, particularly inclusive peace processes and multiparty dynamics, her work has been featured prominently in leading academic journals, including International Organization and International Studies Quarterly. Isak Svensson holds the Dag Hammarskjöld Chair at Uppsala University. His extensive publication record includes acclaimed books such as Confronting the Caliphate (Oxford University Press, 2022) and The Peacemaking Mandate (Cambridge University Press, 2025). He is internationally recognized for research on religion and conflict, international mediation, and civil resistance.

'As Islamist conflicts continue to dominate global headlines, Nilsson and Svensson advance an original theory explaining why these wars are less likely to end, more prone to relapse, and especially resistant to negotiations. Drawing on both comparative analysis and rich case studies, they identify the characteristics that drive conflict persistence but also outline options for bringing these wars to a close. An essential read for both scholars and practitioners.' Jerome Drevon, Senior Analyst at the International Crisis Group and Research Fellow at the Geneva Graduate Institute

• 1. Introduction: why study the ending of Islamist civil wars?; 2. Our argument: the strategic embeddedness of Islamist civil wars; 3. Global evidence of intractability: termination and recurrence; 4. The intractability of Islamist civil wars: Afghanistan and Mauritania; 5. Global evidence of conflict resolution: negotiations and agreements; 6. Conflict resolution in Islamist civil wars: Mali and Syria; 7. Conclusion: how to end Islamist civil wars.