Securing The Peace

Timely and pathbreaking, Securing the Peace is the first book to explore the complete spectrum of civil war terminations, including negotiated settlements, military victories by governments and rebels, and stalemates and ceasefires. Examining the outcomes of all civil war terminations since 1940, Monica Toft develops a general theory of postwar stability, showing how third-party guarantees may not be the best option. She demonstrates that thorough security-sector reform plays a critical role in establishing peace over the long term. Much of the thinking in this area has centered on third parties presiding over the maintenance of negotiated settlements, but the problem with this focus is that fewer than a quarter of recent civil wars have ended this way. Furthermore, these settlements have been precarious, often resulting in a recurrence of war. Toft finds that military victory, especially victory by rebels, lends itself to a more durable peace. She argues for the importance of the security sector--the police and military--and explains that victories are more stable when governments can maintain order. Toft presents statistical evaluations and in-depth case studies that include El Salvador, Sudan, and Uganda to reveal that where the security sector remains robust, stability and democracy are likely to follow. An original and thoughtful reassessment of civil war terminations, Securing the Peace will interest all those concerned about resolving our world's most pressing conflicts.

Based on the joint efforts of Israelis, Jordanians, and Palestinians, in conjunction with economists from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this book describes a cohesive plan for an integrated Middle East economy. It specifies actions and studies in areas where there are pressing and important issues, and where rapid progress is possible. Specifically, the plan assumes Palestinian economic sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza. It calls for a market-driven economy and free trade among the three economies, and regional projects to further develop shared interests. Additional recommendations call for the Palestinians to take over the existing Civil Administration in the West Bank and Gaza, expansion of the financial sector, and removal of the restrictions on Palestinian employment in Israel to allow as many as 100,000 Palestinians to work there.

Preventing humanitarian atrocities is becoming as important for the United Nations as dealing with inter-state war. In this book, Ramesh Thakur examines the transformation in UN operations, analysing its changing role and structure. He asks why, when and how force may be used and argues that the growing gulf between legality and legitimacy is evidence of an eroded sense of international community. He considers the tension between the US, with its capacity to use force and project power, and the UN, as the centre of the international law enforcement system. He asserts the central importance of the rule of law and of a rules-based order focused on the UN as the foundation of a civilised system of international relations. This book will be of interest to students of the UN and international organisations in politics, law and international relations departments, as well as policymakers in the UN and other NGOs.

This book challenges the current thinking and strategies in the field of global peace and security. It is clear that current global public and private institutions are inadequate for the challenges we face today. These challenges cut across borders and require a more coordinated and concerted effort to find workable solutions. This book therefore begins with the question of global leadership and works its way back to the interconnected dynamics of global modernity and conflict. It is divided into four parts, each addressing a fundamental challenge to global peace and security. By exploring how we break out of the current framework, in which we understand global activities and the distribution of resources, and this book provides new ways of understanding the material, cultural, political, and spiritual relations that form the basis of international society.

The new contributions in this book, by acknowledged leaders in the field, examine the delivery of effective aid under fire, and securing the peace in environments where governance is fragile. They bridge the cultural divide between the security and development professions at a time of unprecedented global economic integration, geopolitical turbulence, and novel threats to international peace and security. More than a billion people live in countries where governance is weak, poverty is rampant, and economies are depressed. Failed and frail states provide ideal breeding grounds for civil strife, criminality, and "new wars" that target civilians, use children as combatants, and commit massive human rights violations. The new security risks loom within national borders, while the capacity of the international community to intervene 'behind borders' remains inadequate. Policy making for security still relies heavily on military responses. Yet military responses cannot address, and may even worsen, the social and cultural antecedents of civil strife and social resentment. Similarly, development aid policy and practice are poorly adapted to the new realities of frail governance and insecure operating environments in aid recipient countries. This book was previously published as a special issue of the leading journal Conflict, Security and Development.

This book concerns the United Nations’ peacemaking, peacekeeping, peace-building, and post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Africa from 1960 to 2021. Succinctly discussed are historic and contemporary peace, security, and economic engagements within 18 countries spanning eight African regions: the Great Lakes; the Economic Community of Central African States; East Africa; the Horn of Africa; North Africa; the Sahel Region; West Africa; and Southern Africa. The book develops a neo-realist and imperialist critique that discusses how resource-rich, conflict-ridden states have become easy targets for capitalists, terrorists, and transnational crime, aligned to geostrategic parochial interests. Critically argued is that endogenous economic growth factors, if applied effectively, can achieve both peace and security, and meet the Global Sustainable Development Goals. Such efforts require constructive engagement with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US. However, the book contends that the cornerstone of multilateral engagement involves Africa’s 55 states and the African Union’s three major pillars: the Peace and Security Council, the African Governance Architecture, and the Post-Conflict Reconstruction Development Centre, which have the ability to move resource-rich, conflict-ridden states out of transnational crime and poverty. This book offers wide-ranging analyses of contemporary African diplomacy and a compelling critique of UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa, which resonates to scholars of international relations, peace and conflict studies, and African politics.

This book provides a critical assessment of the impact of UN Resolution 1325 by examining the effect of peacebuilding missions on increasing gender equality within conflict-affected countries. UN Resolution 1325 was adopted in October 2000, and was the first time that the security concerns of women in situations of armed conflict and their role in peacebuilding was placed on the agenda of the UN Security Council. It was an important step forward in terms of bringing women’s rights and gender equality to bear in the UN’s peace and security agenda. More than a decade after the adoption of this Resolution, its practical reality is yet to be substantially felt on the ground in the very societies and regions where women remain disproportionately affected by armed conflict and grossly under-represented in peace processes. This realization, in part, led to the adoption in 2008 and 2009 of three other Security Council Resolutions, on sexual violence in conflict, violence against women, and for the development of indicators to measure progress in addressing women, peace and security issues. The book draws together the findings from eight countries and four regional contexts to provide guidance on how the impact of Resolution 1325 can be measured, and how peacekeeping operations could improve their capacity to effectively engender security. This book will be of much interest to students of peacebuilding, gender studies, the United Nations, international security and IR in general.