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1. Sharing the Burden: Lessons from the European Return to Multidimensional Peacekeeping

Author:
Arthur Boutellis and Michael Beary
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Since 2013, after years of near absence from the continent, a number of European countries, along with Canada, have again deployed to UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. The European presence in UN peacekeeping in Africa is now nearly at its largest since the mid-1990s. These countries provide much-needed high-end capabilities, as well as political and financial capital, to UN peacekeeping operations. Nonetheless, securing and sustaining European contributions to these types of peacekeeping operations remains an uphill battle for the UN. This paper draws lessons from this renewed engagement by European countries and Canada, both from their point of view, as well as from that of the UN Secretariat, UN field missions, and other troop contributors. It aims to explore how these bodies and other countries can best work together in a collective endeavor to improve UN peacekeeping’s efficiency and effectiveness. Toward this end, the paper recommends a number of actions to the UN Secretariat: Build peacekeeping operations around first-class medical systems; Focus on improving processes for casualty evacuation; Strengthen the UN’s capacity to foster partnerships among troop-contributing countries; Engage Europe strategically and politically; Be flexible and make European contributors (and others) feel included in planning; Continue educating European contributors about UN peacekeeping; Do not limit engagement with European contributors to high-end capabilities; Ensure European contributors adhere to UN standards; and Encourage European contributors to commit to longer deployments.
Topic:
United Nations, Peacekeeping, and Multilateralism
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and Canada

2. Engineering Peace: The Critical Role of Engineers in UN Peacekeeping

Author:
Arthur Boutellis and Adam Smith
Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The UN Security Council mandates peacekeeping operations in some of the poorest, most conflict-prone areas of the world. These locations are often also extremely remote and nearly inaccessible. In this context, engineering is one of the most critical elements to the functioning of a UN peace operation; yet, it may be the least critically analyzed aspect of peacekeeping. During the start-up phase of a mission, engineers design, prepare, and build the camps that allow the mission to exist. Very little can be achieved in peacekeeping without sanitary and secure camps with electricity and passable roads or functional air strips. When there are engineering gaps coupled with major logistical challenges (as in the UN Mission in South Sudan), key elements of the mandate, such as the protection of civilians or support to the extension of state authority, become much more difficult, and sometimes impossible, to fulfill. During the mission consolidation phase, engineers can play a central role in the peacebuilding support tasks of a mission, working with the host country, UN agencies, and others to build capacity and deliver peace dividends.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Development, Peace Studies, Science and Technology, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
United Nations

3. The Management Handbook for UN Field Missions

Author:
Arthur Boutellis and Adam C. Smith
Publication Date:
06-2012
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
Why.Is.Management.Important? The UN field mission is a complex beast. From the smallest political mission to the largest peacekeeping operation, it employs a uniquely diverse staff and performs a broad array of tasks in an environment that is sometimes dangerous, often unstable, and always challenging. Resources are scarce and inflexible. Internal regulations and procedures are cumbersome, and, at times, can impede rather than facilitate success. On top of it all, success is often hard to measure or even recognize. Unlike the private sec-tor, success in the field does not come from increased quarterly profits, but rather from a conflict prevented, the perception of a peace dividend, or the renewed optimism of a host population. Unfortunately, UN staff can only contribute to these goals, as so many factors are beyond the mission's control.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, Security, International Organization, United Nations, and Peacekeeping

4. The Security Sector in Côte d'Ivoire: A Source of Conflict and a Key to Peace

Author:
Arthur Boutellis
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
The security sector in Côte d'Ivoire is both at the root of the recent crisis and the key to finding a way forward. While successive attempts to resolve divisions have recognized some of the larger challenges of security-sector reform (SSR), the failure to reunify the Ivoirian security forces prior to holding the presidential elections in 2010 was a key factor behind the recent crisis and contributed to its escalation into a military confrontation-a confrontation that included violence against civilians committed by both sides. The decade-long crisis and its latest episode have made the politicians in Côte d'Ivoire increasingly dependent on uniformed men. This will have to be addressed through comprehensive security-sector reform to prevent a return to armed conflict.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Demographics, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Africa

5. Renewing MONUSCO'S Mandate: What Role Beyond the Elections?

Author:
Arthur Boutellis and Guillaume Lacaille
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
As they prepare to discuss the renewal of MONUSCO's mandate six months ahead of general elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the members of the UN Security Council are facing a dilemma. Should they limit the role of MONUSCO to the continued protection of civilians in eastern Congo, as agreed with President Joseph Kabila, or should they expand its mandate in an attempt to enforce democratic principles before the elections at the risk of confronting the incumbent regime? This issue brief argues that MONUSCO should be limited to a technical role in the election—as requested by the Congolese authorities—but only on the condition that the international community reengages President Kabila in a frank political dialogue on long term democratic governance reforms.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Democratization, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

6. Issue Brief: What Army for Haiti?

Author:
Arthur Boutellis
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
President Michel Martelly of Haiti was widely expected to make the creation of a new Haitian army official on November 18, 2011, on the anniversary of the last major battle for Haitian Independence in 1803. Instead, he announced the creation of a civilian-led commission that will have forty days to finalize a plan for the creation of the new army, which should be presented by January 1, 2012. The newly elected president has made reinstating the army, which was disbanded in 1995, a priority. A draft of the “Martelly plan,” dated August 2011, called for building an army of 3,500 troops that would be operational within three years and progressively take over as the UN peacekeeping force MINUSTAH withdraws.
Topic:
Security, Politics, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Caribbean