South America And Peace Operations

This volume is the first English-language work to focus specifically on South America in the context of peace operations. The region of South America has been undergoing significant changes recently with regard to its attitudes towards participation in peace operations. Leaving behind a strong reluctance with regard to intervention, the states have recently taken on a much stronger presence among UN peacekeepers. The foremost showcase of this more robust and responsible stance has been MINUSTAH, the current UN mission in Haiti. South American contributors provide over half the operation’s troops, and the Force Commander is provided by Brazil. This book is intended as an introduction for researchers to the nexus of issues surrounding South America’s increasing influence as a contributor to peace operations. The authors provide the reader with a historically and theoretically grounded understanding of what motivates defence policy and decisions on intervention in the region. Featuring contributions from prominent thinkers in the field and a broad range of case studies, this volume successfully combines practical applicability with diversity of analysis. This book will be of much interest to students of peacekeeping, South American politics, peace and conflict studies, security studies and International Relations in general.

Trends in the number and scope of peace operations since 2000 evidence heightened international appreciation for their value in crisis-response and regional stabilization. Peace Operations: Trends, Progress, and Prospects addresses national and institutional capacities to undertake such operations, by going beyond what is available in previously published literature. Part one focuses on developments across regions and countries. It builds on data- gathering projects undertaken at Georgetown University's Center for Peace and Security Studies (CPASS), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) that offer new information about national contributions to operations and about the organizations through which they make those contributions. The information provides the bases for arriving at unique insights about the characteristics of contributors and about the division of labor between the United Nations and other international entities. Part two looks to trends and prospects within regions and nations. Unlike other studies that focus only on regions with well-established track records—specifically Europe and Africa—this book also looks to the other major areas of the world and poses two questions concerning them: If little or nothing has been done institutionally in a region, why not? What should be expected? This groundbreaking volume will help policymakers and academics understand better the regional and national factors shaping the prospects for peace operations into the next decade.

Of the workshop and the discussions / Jack Child -- Development and democracy: their relationship to peace and security / Oscar Camilión -- Development and democracy: their relationship to peace and security / Howard J. Wiarda -- Social reconciliation in Colombia / Jesús Antonio Bejarano -- The superpowers and Latin American conflict / S. Neil MacFarlane -- Interstate conflicts in Latin America and the search for solutions: five illustrative cases / Jack Child -- Confidence-building measures and the arms limitations process / Alejandro San Martín -- The future role of third-party neutrals in peacekeeping operations and observance of agreements in the Americas / Gastón Ibáñez O'Brien.

Recent years have given rise to an intense debate about the boundaries and appropriate missions of Latin America's armed forces. This report examines the efforts of civilian leaders in Latin America to identify missions for their militaries appropriate to both the security environment of the post-Cold War era and to civil-military relations in a democracy, and to provide ways militaries will effectively adopt these missions. It also analyses the implications for democracy and civilian control of specific roles for the armed forces that are either under consideration or already underway in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

The deployment of a large number of soldiers, police officers and civilian personnel inevitably has various effects on the host society and economy, not all of which are in keeping with the peacekeeping mandate and intent or are easily discernible prior to the intervention. This book is one of the first attempts to improve our understanding of unintended consequences of peacekeeping operations, by bringing together field experiences and academic analysis. The aim of the book is not to discredit peace operations but rather to improve the way in which such operations are planned and managed.

This volume is the first comprehensive overview of how International Relations theories - liberal, rational choice, feminist, and sociological institutionalism, realism, constructivism, practice theories, critical security studies, and complexity theory - can help us understand UN peace operations.

"This book is essential for enhancing one's understanding of international conflict and for the continued relevance of the UN as a key stakeholder and participant in world affairs." --Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund, Head of Mission and Chief of Staff, UN peacekeeping mission in the Middle East (UNTSO) "This outstanding collection is a must-read for anyone interested in the challenges of peacekeeping today." --Dr. Lise Howard, Georgetown University, USA "I would recommend this book to policy makers, peacekeepers and scholars who wish to understand and improve the effectiveness of modern peacekeeping." --Lt. Gen. Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, former Force Commander in the UN missions in the DRC (MONUSCO) and Haiti (MINUSTAH) "This exceptional collection of analyses by experts from both the global North and South will be of interest to practitioners and scholars alike - highly recommended." --Prof. Ramesh Thakur, Australian National University This open access volume explores how UN peace operations are adapting to four trends in the changing global order: (1) the rebalancing of relations between states of the global North and the global South; (2) the rise of regional organisations as providers of peace; (3) the rise of violent extremism and fundamentalist non-state actors; and (4) increasing demands from non-state actors for greater emphasis on human security. It identifies emerging conflict and peace trends (robustness of responses, rise of non-state threats, cross-state conflicts) and puts them in the context of tectonic shifts in the global order (rise of emerging powers, North-South rebalancing, emergence of regional organisations as providers of peace). The volume stimulates a discussion between practitioners and academics, offering an analysis of how the international community collectively makes sense of the changing global order and its implications for UN peace operations. Cedric de Coning is Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway and Senior Advisor for the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), South Africa. Mateja Peter is Lecturer at the University of St. Andrews, UK and Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), Norway.