Research Findings on the Evolution of Peacekeeping

Abstract

Article Summary:Peacekeeping has evolved both in its focus and in setting increasingly ambitious goals. In effect, the referent object of peacekeeping-what and whose peace is to be kept-has changed. The peace that is to be kept has evolved from a negative conception of peace to encompassing an increasingly positive understanding of peace.Similarly, the object of the peace has shifted from the global to the national and ultimately the local. In effect, this has raised the bar for peacekeeping.Peacekeeping research has mirrored these changes in the expectations and practice of peacekeeping where the (in)effectiveness of peacekeeping has remained a constant concern. The evaluation has shifted from the authorization and organization of peacekeeping missions to the impact of peacekeepers to avoid the recurrence of conflict, to ultimately the ability of peacekeepers to change the situation on the ground and the interaction between peacekeepers and the local population.Research on peacekeeping has become increasingly methodologically sophisticated.

The Extraordinary Relationship between Peacekeeping and Peace

“…Three related issues concerning gender in peacekeeping remain under studied, and ripe for better data and analysis: (1) sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) in peacekeeping, (2) the effects 29 Boutros-Ghali, UNDPKO (2006, Gizelis, Dorussen and Petrova (2016), Diehl and Druckman (2010), Sandler (2017). 30 Fortna and Howard (2008) conclude that '(s)ome of the differences in findings result from differences in research designwhether the study examines change in democracy scores or a country crossing a threshold to democracy, whether the study includes only civil wars or also interstate conflicts, whether the study examines only peacekeeping or intervention more broadly, etc.'.…”

“…Numerous large-n statistical studies have explored the relationship between third-party peacekeeping and different forms of violence (Dorussen 2014;Gizelis, Dorussen and Petrova 2016); Di Salvatore and Ruggeri 2017;Sandler 2017). What is most striking about these studies is the consistency of their findings.…”

Advancing the Frontier of Peacekeeping Research

“…Beardsley (2015) demonstrate how peacekeeping can contain conflict from spreading geographically and engulfing countries.In effect, much of this literature suggests that peacekeeping 'works' if it contributes to a negative peace, where peace is simply the absence of conflict. In short, in the empirical literature, peace is often simply defined as a situation without battle related deaths(Gizelis et al 2016, Diehl 2016.1 The papers in this special feature expand the bounds of the quantitative literature by examining how UN peacekeeping might affect different forms of violence(Hultman and Johansson) as well as specific forms of peace (Benson and Kathman). The research presented here further examines how different attributes of peacekeeping missions (beyond the number of military troops) can affect the ability of the UN to reduce conflict violence (Bove and Ruggeri and Beardsley, Cunningham, and White).…”

“…This new research has largely focused on how UN peacekeeping missions might address urgent, ongoing conflict attributes as well as other immediate conflict outcomes. The ability of the UN to successfully save lives in the mid of violence (Gizelis, Dorussen, and Petrova 2016;Goldstein 2011) and to limit the diffusion of conflict has been the focus of a growing body of empirical research. Shannon (2013, 2014) show that peacekeepers protect civilians against one-sided violence highlighting the increasingly humanitarian role of peacekeepers.…”

“…In effect, much of this literature suggests that peacekeeping "works" if it contributes to a negative peace, where peace does not have a specific content but signifies a situation without battle-related deaths (Gizelis, Dorussen, and Petrova 2016;Diehl 2016). 1 The papers in this special feature expand the bounds of the quantitative literature by examining how UN peacekeeping might affect different forms of violence (Hultman and Johansson) as well as specific forms of peace (Benson and Kathman).…”