Building peace through the nexus between security, democracy and development: a critical assessment of the United Nations mission in Liberia

Abstract

Building peace through the nexus between security, democracy and development: a critical assessment of the United Nations mission in Liberia Construyendo la paz por medio del nexo seguridad, democracia y desarrollo: una

International Society and the United Nations Peacebuilding

“…On the other hand, the efficiency of the peacebuilding policies deployed in the country is questionable. As argued elsewhere, the operation failed, for example, in factionalizing the economic elites and in reducing horizontal inequalities between different groups of the Liberian society (Souza;Mendes, 2020). Yet, the question that remains is: success for whom?…”

“…By setting out this nexus between peace, democracy and development (Souza;Garcia, 2020), the UN-led peacebuilding process has become admittedly oriented by the notion of "liberal peace", that prescribes two main remedies to "third-world" states experiencing intrastate conflicts: democracy and development (Firchow, 2018;Kang, 2009;Nagakawa, 2016). The liberal way of pursuing peace presupposes that intrastate conflict causes are closely related to poverty, an outcome of underdevelopment, and also are intertwined with the absence of functional and democratic institutions (Nagakawa, 2016;Newman, 2013).…”

“…It is worth mentioning that the UNDAF plans for Liberia were not disconnected from UNMIL's goals, as they kept stressing that the state should internalize the good practices of democratic governance (UNDAF Liberia, 2003;. Therefore, there is a crucial nexus between democratic practices and economic development in the UN activities in Liberia (Souza;Mendes, 2020).…”

Liberia: desk study on aid and democracy

“…In Liberia, combining assistance focused upon both peacebuilding and democracy-building has proven to be more effective and sustainable. This nexus approach has not been without flaw, as pursuing peacebuilding, development, and democracy together may have contributed to fragmented local elites and uneven development across the country (Souza and Mendes 2020). The approach also often overlooks local context and pre-existing local infrastructures.…”

“…First and foremost, foreign aid, especially from the UN and international NGOs, was instrumental in coordinating national presidential and legislative elections in 2005 (Mvukiyehe 2018). The UN has also been especially focused upon providing support for institution-building and institutional reforms, especially in the realms of human rights, rule of law, and public administration (Souza and Mendes 2020). External assistance thus proved invaluable in facilitating Liberia's transition to democracy in 2006.…”