ai09 ‘Mos! people think peacekeeping doesn't work. They're wrong,
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Home > Moet people hk peacekeeping does wok, Theyre wrong
Most people think peacekeeping doesn’t work. They’re wrong.
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‘Submitted by Barbara F. Walter On Wed, 05/02/2018
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Since 2016, the United States budget for United Nations peacekeeping has been reduced by 40 percent. This
is a reflection of how many view the United Nations and it's record on peacekeeping. Data on the effectiveness
of UN peacekeepers, however, don't support this perception. In fact, they find that the opposite is true.
Numerous statistical studies have explored the role of third-party peacekeeping in reducing violence around
the world. They all come to the same conclusion: Peacekeeping works better than almost anything else we
know. Using different datasets and statistical models, leveraging slightly different time periods, and measuring
peacekeeping in somewhat different ways, the most rigorous studies have all found that peacekeeping has a
large, positive, and statistically significant effect on containing the spread of civil war, increasing the success of
negotiated settlements to civil wars, and increasing the duration of peace once a civil war has ended (see here
(n, here i, here i, and here «). More recent statistical studies have found an equally strong relationship
between large-scale peace operations and the spread of civil wars, within and between states (see here 1s,
here 1s, and here m).
Not only that, but every study that looked at diverse types of peacekeeping missions found that the UN was
more effective in preventing and reducing violence than non-UN missions, and that stronger mandates and
larger missions increased the likelihood of any mission's success. This was the case whether a mission was
designed to prevent the spread of civil war, the killing of civilians, or increase the duration of peace once a
‘ceasefire or settlement had been reached. The more soldiers the UN was willing to send and the stronger the
mandate it was willing to provide, the more the UN was able to reduce violence.
hitp:blogs.werldbank orgldev4peacelprintimost-people-think-peacekeeping-dossn--worc
y-rewrong 1ai09 Most people think peacekseping dossn't work. They're wrong
Why, then, does the public believe just the opposite? Part of the problem has to do with media coverage that
‘emphasizes failed missions over successful ones. “If it bleeds, it leads,” is the fear-based logic that drives
much of the information the public receives. Everyone has heard about the UN's failure to stop the genocide in
Rwanda, but no one has heard of how the UN averted war in Macedonia, Add to this the fact that newspaper
accounts don't distinguish between feeble missions and robust ones, and you have a recipe for believing that
all missions are inherently bad
But politics is also partly to blame. Republicans have historically been reluctant to rely too heavily on
international cooperation and organizations, and for them, the UN is the poster child for all they hope to avoid.
Equating every peacekeeping mission with the most poorly executed ones reinforces the narrative they wish to
tell
Still, we have strong empirical evidence for what works and what doesn't. Historically, peacekeeping missions
have failed wherever the five permanent members of the UN Security Council tried to do peacekeeping half
heartedly: when peacekeepers were sent late (as they were in Rwanda); with too few soldiers; or with no
mandate to use force. Member nations’ reluctance to avoid the costs and risks of intervention created the
conditions for failure. If done correctly, however, peacekeeping can be the best bargain in town, and is.
certainly more cost-effective than continued war or conventional military intervention.
This message needs to be amplified. if people continue to believe that peacekeeping doesn't work, the entire
systom could be mistakenly dismantled. It took the world years to figure out that peacekeeping was critical to
reducing violence, and more years to figure out how to do it right. What we now have is "very good” and could
be even better.
How do you improve the success of peacekeeping? Peacekeepers work when they have the support and
mandate necessary to enforce the peace, something that requires a willingness to use force. If UN member
‘countries are reluctant to place their soldiers in danger, or to risk getting drawn into a war, then technology
might solve this problem for them. Armed drones js could be used to both monitor the movements of
demobilizing soldiers, verify compliance with the terms of an agreement, and punish those who return to
violence. This is exactly the type of intervention that we know works, and one that could be pursued with less
risk to peacekeepers on the ground
We know that peacekeeping works. The trick is to utilize advances in new technology to do it even more
effectively,
Barbara F. Walter is a professor of political science at the School of Global Policy & Strategy at the University
of California, San Diego. She can be reached at bfwalter@ucsd.edu
+ Tags:
+ Pathways for Peace 1
+ Conflict
* Sustainable Communities 1
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Links
[1] https://press princeton edultiles/7293.html
[2] hitps:/press princeton eduftites/8196.html
[3] http iciteseercist psu.edulviewdocidownload 4
[4] hitps:/nowpublisners.convaricle/Detais/QUPS-7051
{5] http www: journals.uchicago eduldoifabs/10.1017/80022381611000764
[6] ttp2/onlinelibrary wiley.comidai/10.111 /misr12205/abstract
[7] http www. perasu.seicigitalAssets/66lc_66937-|_1-k hks_2014_apsr_108-4-.pat
(8) https:thwww. reuters. convaticlelus-un-peacekeepers-droneslu-7-pandl-urges-increased-use-of-drones-in-peacokeeping-missions-
igQUSKBNOLR24G20150223,
(9] mailtbfwalter@ucsd.edu
[10] hip:?blogs.worldbank org/dev4peaceltaxonomyiterm/17272
[11] httpfblogs. worldbank orgidev4peacelcatogory/topics/conflict
[12] htip:fblogs wwarlabank.orgidevapeacelcategoryitags/sustainable-communities
0.1.1.489.68848amp;rep=rep! &itypo=pat
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