AFTERWORD - WHAT IS FRAMED IN THE FRAMEWORK DOCUMENTS

The texts published in February 1995 by the British and Irish governme nts, known as the Joint Framework Documents (although only one documen t was properly joint), are scrutinized in this article. The documents show the extent to which both governments have learned to manage and a nalyse the conflict as nationally driven. They also offer the most ima ginative texts produced by liberal democratic sovereign governments ne gotiating the future of a bi-ethnically disputed region. They are cons istent with the logic of what the author calls a 'double protection' m odel. The suggested institutional architecture will be of interest to many other regions of the world torn by ethno-national strife.