A couple of nights ago, I tweeted an article—which inspired a blog post—about the dramatic rise in murders reported by the Salvadoran government in the last year. The alarming spike in killings is, at least in part, connected with the end of a peace truce established in 2012 between the country’s most powerful gangs.

Just days before Christmas, a new agreement was reached within Northern Ireland which sought to address a number of longstanding issues. Embedded within the agenda for the talks were discussions concerning the legacy of ethnic conflict in the country, more commonly referred to as "the troubles." On the 23rd December the deadline for a final agreement came and passed, and there was still no word from Stormont, where the talks were being held.

Early last March, it appeared that the truce between rival gangs in El Salvador had come undone.