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James Ker-Lindsay
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The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know® 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by James Ker-Lindsay (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
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For nearly 60 years--from its uprising against British rule in the 1950s, to the bloody civil war between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the 1970s, and the United Nation's ongoing 30-year effort to reunite the island--the tiny Mediterranean nation of Cyprus has taken a disproportionate share of the international spotlight. And while it has been often in the news, accurate and impartial information on the conflict has been nearly impossible to obtain.

In The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know®, James Ker-Lindsay--recently appointed as expert advisor to the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Cyprus--offers an incisive, even-handed account of the conflict. Ker-Lindsay covers all aspects of the Cyprus problem, placing it in historical context, addressing the situation as it now stands, and looking toward its possible resolution. The book begins with the origins of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities as well as the other indigenous communities on the island (Maronites, Latin, Armenians, and Gypsies). Ker-Lindsay then examines the tensions that emerged between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots after independence in 1960 and the complex constitutional provisions and international treaties designed to safeguard the new state. He pays special attention to the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the subsequent efforts by the UN and the international community to reunite Cyprus. The book's final two chapters address a host of pressing issues that divide the two Cypriot communities, including key concerns over property, refugee returns, and the repatriation of settlers. Ker-Lindsay concludes by considering whether partition really is the best solution, as many observers increasingly suggest.

Written by a leading expert, The Cyprus Problem brings much needed clarity and understanding to a conflict that has confounded observers and participants alike for decades.

What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0199757169
  2. Edition
    1st
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    April 21, 2011
  6. Part of series
    What Everyone Needs To Know?
  7. Language
    English
  8. File size
    633 KB
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW About This Series

Who it's for:

Busy people with diverse interests, ranging from college students to professionals, who wish to inform themselves in a succinct yet authoritative manner about a particular topic.

What's inside:

An incisive approach to a complex and timely issue, laid out in a straight-forward, question-and-answer format.

Meet Our Authors

Top experts in their given fields, ranging from an Economist correspondent to a director at the Council on Foreign Relations, you can trust our authors’ expertise and guidance.

Popular Topics in the "What Everyone Needs to Know" Series

  • International Politics
  • Environmental Policies
  • World History
  • Sciences & Math
  • Religion & Spirituality

About the Author

James Ker-Lindsay is the Eurobank EFG Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the London School of Economics. He is the author of Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement Between Greece and Turkey and EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00532P4QA
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (April 21, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 21, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 633 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 150 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0199757151
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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James Ker-Lindsay

James Ker-Lindsay

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James Ker-Lindsay is Visiting Professor at the University of Kent and Research Associate at the London School of Economics.

His books focus on conflict, peace, and security in Southeast Europe, secession, and conflict management. His most recent book is a co-authored introductory guide to secession and state creation published by Oxford University Press.

As well as his academic work, he has advised governments and international organisations, including the Council of Europe, the EU, and the UN. He has also worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was a member of the British delegation at the 2017 UN-sponsored Cyprus settlement talks in Switzerland.

He holds a BSc(econ) from London University and an MA and PhD in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent. He speaks Greek and has lived in Greece and Cyprus.

He also has a YouTube channel exploring international relations, conflict, security, and statehood:

http://www.youtube.com/c/JamesKerLindsay

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
145 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book informative, a good read, and perfect for studying the situation. They also say the content is perfect for those unaware yet wanting to understand.

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ContentReadability
9 customers mention "Content"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book's content informative, unbiased, and thought-provoking. They also say it approaches a dense, controversial subject in a relatively neutral manner. Customers also say the book is easy to read and enjoyable.

"Great overview of the issues that persist in Cyprus. For someone just beginning to study this situation, this book was perfect." Read more

"...Read it in one day and thought is was informative and approaches a dense controversial subject in a relatively neutral manner...." Read more

"As the subtitle says: What everyone needs to know.Good and unbiased intro on the subject..." Read more

"...'s experts on the subject of Cyprus and its `problem'," and promises us an incisive, even-handed account containing, it is implied, accurate and..." Read more

4 customers mention "Readability"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable. They say it's good to get going and get the basics.

"...For someone just beginning to study this situation, this book was perfect." Read more

"...The book was easy to read and enjoyable...." Read more

"Very good to get going and get the basics but surely needs more to go more in depth and truly understand" Read more

"Good and informative." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Krista A. Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Great overview of the issues that persist in Cyprus
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2016
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Great overview of the issues that persist in Cyprus. For someone just beginning to study this situation, this book was perfect.
4 people found this helpful
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Ashton C
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative easy read on a deep topic
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2018
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Had to read this book for a class on international identity based conflicts. The book was easy to read and enjoyable. Read it in one day and thought is was informative and approaches a dense controversial subject in a relatively neutral manner. Asks the good questions and provides thought-provoking answers!
2 people found this helpful
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Long Distance Biker
5.0 out of 5 stars Partitions smaller, Community larger
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2013
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The Cyprus Problem by James Ker-Lindsay is concise about the divided island’s history before and after 1960 independence. Before 1960, Britain was the island’s colonial master. The island wasn’t allowed to join the Greek nation. After independence, a small nation was created with two languages, Greek and Turkish, two religions, Greek Orthodox and Sunni Islam, two ethnic histories, Greek and Turkmen, and a long geographic enmity between islands and mainland going back at least to the Trojan Wars.

Ker-Lindsay’s main theme is showing how these divides have kept Cyprus from achieving a workable self-government. While reading about Cyprus, he got me thinking about small European nations with problems in self-government, Belgium and Ireland. Belgium’s Flemish/French language problem in self-government seems bad, even without two ethnic histories, nor two religions, and Belgium isn’t an island physically outside its larger European community. Cyprus clearly has more problems than Belgium, and more than Ireland, which it resembles in being an island. Ireland’s religious division is only between denominations of the Christian religion, and both use the same Holy book. Ireland’s Gaelic language is mitigated by general use of English. Ireland’s history of geographic enmity goes back 500 years, not thousands of years. So I see Ker-Lindsay’s Cyprus as a more comprehensive study of problems in Mediterranean self-government.

Ker-Lindsay describes problems from each side. There were personality clashes between party leaders who didn’t really represent the desires of their populations. Popular referendums were tried in attempts to bypass these leaders, but the populations were easily pushed and pulled by media campaigns. New confederations were proposed in attempts to bypass clashes over which group would lead a continuing nation of 1960 Cyprus, but they were seen as preludes to easy secession from confederation. Ideas for rotating or sharing power at the top didn’t satisfy either group’s fundamental desire to wield power over the opposing population. The border between the populations is physically vague, yet legislative attempts failed to set a firm border. Outsiders tried to mediate between the groups, but there was no trust. Trust in a combined national government is lacking in the partitions: the government isn’t trusted to prevent subversion of one partition by the other, and the government isn’t trusted to handle external relations with Greece and Turkey without favoring one partition over the other.

Ker-Lindsay says he has no solution to offer. He feels the 2004 entry of Cyprus into the European Union may help lead out of the impasse, but he observes that Turkey’s delay entering the European Union has been delaying the effect. He got me thinking again. Maybe both Cypriot groups, now clashing over who will be on top of their island, might accept a third and better answer, neither of them. It wouldn’t be the first “partitions smaller, community larger” success. America’s states put political and religious differences under common defense, diplomacy, and treasury. In a large community, immigration can be shared, new religions accepted, and children educated in a shared language for interstate commerce. Europe is already years along a similar path.

He got me thinking parts of the Mediterranean might enter onto similar paths. Until then, Ker-Lindsay’s Cyprus descriptions, written before the 2011 Arab Spring, seem able to predict and explain problems in small Mediterranean attempts at democratic self-government. All have minorities unable or unwilling to accept majority rule while living near the majority. Ker-Lindsay’s insights into the Cyprus problem might help others understand their small nation failures. They might seek, as Ker-Lindsay suggests, larger communities taking away from both minority and majority the divisive roles of defense and diplomacy. As small partitions in a larger community, their repeating Mediterranean clashes would lose weight, even while historic enmity continued.

Bottom line: Ker-Lindsay earns 5 stars. He understands the Mediterranean better than diplomats who think talk ends tribalism. He thinks mutual benefit trumps tribalism.
4 people found this helpful
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mibo
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and balanced introduction
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2013
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As the subtitle says: What everyone needs to know.

Good and unbiased intro on the subject (which otherwise is obscured by a lot of biased contributions, from both the conflict parties themselves and a bunch of other sources linked to them in one or the other way).
One person found this helpful
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daven
3.0 out of 5 stars Good interesting reading.
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2015
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Giving an accurate account of what went on,
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ulpio
4.0 out of 5 stars Great to get the basics
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2016
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Very good to get going and get the basics but surely needs more to go more in depth and truly understand
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Kurt G. Engelen
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening
Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012
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a "to the point" and neutral analysis that gives the reader all the relevant elements to understand the Cyprus issue.
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JustinHoca
5.0 out of 5 stars Great summary for the lay-reader
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
The Cyprus Problem- What Everyone Needs to Know- James Ker-Lindsay

I found this book to be an excellent summary of events leading up to 2011. Dr. Ker-Lindsay describes all the key moments of diplomacy and failed negotiations from the British colonial period through the latest efforts at reunification. The author is an academic whose researches focuses on conflict and diplomacy in several countries in and around the Mediterranean. Per his bio, he lived and lectured in Nicosia, Cyprus at one point.

While not every historical argument and nuance are captured, and in some cases one has to take the professor's word for it ("Polls show..."), this is a must-read primer for anyone contemplating diplomatic work or long-term life in Cyprus. The author keeps his own cards close to his vest, simply presenting facts, arguments from both sides in each relevant time period, and more or less letting the reader decide. As I read this book (after reading others about Cyprus and recently following Cypriot media) I developed my own opinion as to what a stable equilibrium would look like. In the end, the author reveals that he neither sees the status quo as sustainable, nor does he truly believe the "bizonal, bicommunal" yet one-Cyprus solution of the UN and the major powers' talking points for the island is truly attainable. The author concludes by stating solutions that no politician would dare say out loud. It contains a good bibliography from which he draws some of his sources and conclusions about historical events.

Five stars.
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Top reviews from other countries

J
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and objective
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 24, 2023
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This is probably the most objective book on the "Cyprus Problem" that I have read. The author gives a concise and readable review of the history leading to today's situation as well as clear explanations of the major issues which divide the two communities on the island. The main problem however is that the book is now over 10 years old, so some of the possible outcomes that he discusses are no longer feasible given some of the things that have been happening in recent years.

2024 sees the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of the island. An opportunity for James Ker Lindsay to provide an update to his book and what the future now may hold for Cyprus?
3 people found this helpful
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Amira Salama
5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and clear
Reviewed in Italy on January 25, 2020
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Very well explained the Cyprus background and the actual situation, it helped me a lot
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aupalarra
4.0 out of 5 stars Clear and rich information about the Cyprus conflict
Reviewed in Spain on January 25, 2017
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An appropiate book to start understanding the issue in Cyprus. There's a chapter dedicated to answer the most interesting key questions that are clearly explained.
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Ingrid Panayi
4.0 out of 5 stars Objective analysis
Reviewed in France on June 20, 2014
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It is almost impossible to filter out partisan views of the history and politics of Cyprus, so this is as close as possible to a plausible explanation of a complex situation. A valuable introduction.
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Ed Conduit
4.0 out of 5 stars Nicosia: the front line betwen Christendom and Islam
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2013
Verified Purchase
Ker-Lindsay gives an excellent account of recent history, but rather less of ethnic identity.
The criteria by which a nation identifies itself are language, religion, geographical boundary and some distinctive economic or cultural identity. In the case of Cyprus there is no geographical boundary between the two communities and economic and cultural life is rather similar, so language and religion are the divisive issues. The Greek and Turkish languages remain mutually incomprehensible with surprisingly little borrowing during Ottoman rule. But the main historical divide has been between the Ottoman empire's uniformly Sunni Muslim populace and the uniformly Orthodox Christian community of the former Byzantine Empire. Byzantium was conquered by a Muslim Arab empire. The Greek language disappeared and Christians were converted to Islam. On the periphery of the Ottoman empire some Greek-speaking and religiously orthodox communities persisted. The aspiration for enosis and I Megali is probably a nostalgia for Greek-speaking Byzantium. The Islam-Christendom boundary persists on the Armenian border and in Bosnia. The 1919 genocide has still not been remedied. The Serbian - Bosnian war erupted again in the 1990s.

Turkey is in a good position to bring this historical divide. Although the current government in Turkey is more explicitly Muslim, it is nonetheless able to reach pragmatic solutions, for example in peace deals with its Kurdish minority. It could make apologies to Greek villages expelled in 1919. Restitution to Armenians for the genocide is long overdue. Hagia Sophia is highly symbolic: having been the central cathedral for Byzantium, it became the central mosque for the Ottoman empire. It was made into a museum in 1935 by Ataturk. It could be treated as the museum of both Byzantium and the Ottomans. Nations associated in current Islamic resentment for the crusades could make apology, for example for Peter the hermit's troops putting babies to the sword.

Religion should not be the basis of ethnic war in 21st century
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