Post-conflict peacebuilding efforts can fail if they do not pay sufficient attention to natural resources. Natural resources - diamonds, oil, and minerals - are frequently at the heart of historic grievances, and have caused or funded at least eighteen conflicts since 1990. The same resources can play a central role in post-conflict peacebuilding, providing revenue for cash-starved governments, basic services for collapsed economies, and means for restoring livelihoods. To date, there is a striking gap in knowledge of what works, what does not, and how to improve peacebuilding through more effective and systematic management of natural resources. Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Natural Resource Management addresses this gap by examining the growing literature on the topic and surveying experiences across more than forty post-conflict countries. The six-volume series includes more than 130 chapters from over 200 researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Peace operations are the UN's flagship activity. Over the past decade, UN blue helmets have been dispatched to ever more challenging environments from the Congo to Timor to perform an expanding set of tasks. From protecting civilians in the midst of violent conflict to rebuilding state institutions after war, a new range of tasks has transformed the business of the blue helmets into an inherently knowledge-based venture. But all too often, the UN blue helmets, policemen, and other civilian officials have been "flying blind" in their efforts to stabilize countries ravaged by war. The UN realized the need to put knowledge, guidance and doctrine, and reflection on failures and successes at the center of the institution.
Building on an innovative multi-disciplinary framework, The New World of UN Peace Operations provides a first comprehensive account of learning in peacekeeping. Covering the crucial past decade of expansion in peace operations, it zooms into a dozen cases of attempted learning across four crucial domains: police assistance, judicial reform, reintegration of former combatants, and mission integration. Throughout the different cases, the book analyzes the role of key variables as enablers and stumbling blocks for learning: bureaucratic politics, the learning infrastructure, leadership as well as power and interests of member states. Building on five years of research and access to key documents and decision-makers, it presents a vivid portrait of an international bureaucracy struggling to turn itself into a learning organization. Aimed at policy-makers, diplomats, and a wide academic audience (including those working in international relations, peace research, political science, public administration, and organizational sociology), The New World of UN Peace Operations is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the evolution of modern peace operations.

Most violent conflicts since the turn of this century were in countries that had experienced an earlier violent conflict. How can we tell when a country is likely to remain stuck in a cycle of violence? What factors suggest it might be "ripe" for stabilizing and peace building? The authors studied four cases: Chad is stuck in a cycle of violence, while El Salvador, Laos, and Mozambique have had different results in their transitions from violence to stability to peace. Conflicts without internal cohesion of combatants or pressure from foreign patrons to stop fighting are probably not ripe for stabilizing. Where there are subnational or regional actors committed to violence, post-conflict peace building is not likely to succeed without enforcement capacity to contain violence or demonstrated commitments to increasing political inclusion and making material improvements in the lives of residents.

In 1994 genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of at least 500,000 Tutsi --some three-quarters of their population --while UN peacekeepers were withdrawn and the rest of the world stood aside. Ever since, it has been argued that a small military intervention could have prevented most of the killing. In The Limits of Humanitarian Intervention, Alan J. Kuperman exposes such conventional wisdom as myth.

Combining unprecedented analyses of the genocide's progression and the logistical limitations of humanitarian military intervention, Kuperman reaches a startling conclusion: even if Western leaders had ordered an intervention as soon as they became aware of a nationwide genocide in Rwanda, the intervention forces would have arrived too late to save more than a quarter of the 500,000 Tutsi ultimately killed. Serving as a cautionary message about the limits of humanitarian intervention, the book's concluding chapters address lessons for the future.

There have been a number of EU military operations in the last few years, evidence of a growing European military confidence, which in turn is a reflection of a developing competence in security matters. The creation of the European Union and its Common Foreign and Security Policy by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 heralded this development, though the idea of a common defense can be traced to the beginnings of European integration. This book provides an analysis of the EU's evolving legal framework and powers on such matters, but it also recognizes that such a framework sits, sometimes uneasily, within the wider body of EU and International Law. The EU's security and defense policy also overlaps with those of other organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), but more especially the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). EU relations with NATO have, in particular, caused some concern and are still evolving as both organizations seek to play a wider security role in the post-Cold War, and now post-9/11, era. With security now dominating political agendas at the domestic, regional and international levels, it is no surprise that the EU's concern for security has grown, and, following the Union's respect for the rule of law, has been shaped legally as well as politically. This book evaluates the progress of the Union in this regard in its international context and in its wider context of European integration generally. The analysis is in the main a legal one, but is placed squarely within wider historical and political perspectives.

Violent behavior has become deeply integrated into modern society and it is an unavoidable aspect of human nature. Examining peacemaking strategies through a critical and academic perspective can assist in resolving violence in societies around the world. The Handbook of Research on Examining Global Peacemaking in the Digital Age is a pivotal reference source for the latest research findings on the utilization of peacemaking in media, leadership, and religion. Featuring extensive coverage on relevant areas such as human rights, spirituality, and the Summer of Peace, this publication is an ideal resource for policymakers, universities and colleges, graduate-level students, and organizations seeking current research on the application of conflict resolution and international negotiation.

Understanding Peacekeeping provides a comprehensive and up to date introduction to the theory, practice and politics of contemporary peacekeeping. It evaluates the changing characteristics of the contemporary environment in which peacekeepers operate, what role peacekeeping plays in wider processes of global politics, the growing impact of non-state actors, and the major challenges facing peacekeepers in the future. Drawing on a wide range of historical and contemporary case studies, including: Afghanistan; Cambodia, Cyprus; the Democratic Republic of Congo; East Timor; El Salvador; Haiti, Liberia; Rwanda; Sierra Leone; Somalia; and the former Yugoslavia, this book develops an original conceptual framework to chart the evolution of the role of peacekeeping in global politics, and highlights the unique characteristics of different types of peacekeeping operations. Part 1 examines concepts and issues related to peacekeeping in global politics. Part 2 charts the historical development of peacekeeping from 1945 to the present. In Part 3, separate chapters are devoted to different types of peacekeeping operations: traditional peacekeeping; managing transition; wider peacekeeping; peace enforcement; and peace support operations. Part 4 looks forward and examines developments in global politics that are presenting serious challenges to the concept and practice of peacekeeping, namely, globalization, the privatization of security, preventing violent conflict, and the establishment of protectorates. Understanding Peacekeeping will be essential reading for students and scholars of peace and conflict studies, security studies, and international relations.

This book is a guide for college students exploring career options who are interested in working to promote peacebuilding and the resolution of conflict. High school students, particularly those starting to consider college and careers, can also benefited from this book. A major feature of the book is 30 stories from young professionals, most recently graduated from college, who are working in the field. These profiles provide readers with insight as to strategies they might use to advance their peacebuilding careers. The book speaks directly to the Millennial generation, recognizing that launching a career is a major focus, and that careers in the peace field have not always been easy to identify. As such, the book takes the approach that most any career can be a peacebuilding career provided one is willing to apply creativity and passion to their work.

A riveting, action-filled account that sheds light on the realities of working in a war-torn country, this is the first book on the war in Iraq by a South African.

Johan Raath and a security team were escorting American engineers to a power plant south of Baghdad when they were ambushed. He had first arrived in Iraq only two weeks before. This was a small taste of what was to come over the next 13 years while he worked there as a private military contractor (PMC). His mission? Not to wage war but to protect lives. Raath acted as a bodyguard for VIPs and, more often, engineers who were involved in construction projects to rebuild the country after the 2003 war. His physical and mental endurance was tested to the limit in his efforts to safeguard construction sites that were regularly subjected to mortar and suicide attacks. Key to his survival was his training as a Special Forces operator, or Recce.

Working in places called the Triangle of Death and driving on the ‘Hell Run’, Raath had numerous hair-raising experiences. As a trained combat medic he also helped to save people’s lives after two suicide bomb attacks on sites he then worked at.

Since the end of the Cold War, crises from the Balkans to Central Asia and Africa have forced international organizations to adapt, expand, and cooperate to end civil wars, manage humanitarian challenges, and contain terrorist threats. The Power of Dependence explores the complex relationship between two of these organizations: NATO and the United Nations. It advances an innovative resource dependence approach to explain the stark variation in interorganizational cooperation, combining insights from international relations theory and organizational science in a comprehensive theoretical framework. Comparing NATO and the UN's engagement in three major post-Cold War conflicts- Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan- the study finds that the level and balance of the organizations' resource dependence plays a crucial role in shaping the degree of cooperation. The Power of Dependence demonstrates the logic, dynamics, and impact of organizational interactions in addressing regional instability and violent conflict. It will be of interest to anyone concerned with understanding and building more effective interorganizational partnerships in crisis management.

For much of the last half century, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seemed the outlier in global peace. Today Iraq, Libya, Israel/Palestine, Yemen, and Syria are not just countries, but synonyms for prolonged and brutal wars. But why is MENA so exceptionally violent? More importantly, can it change? Exploring the causes and consequences of wars and conflicts in this troubled region, Ariel Ahram helps readers answer these questions. In Part I, Ahram shows how MENA's conflicts evolved with the formation of its states. Violence varied from civil wars and insurgencies to traditional interstate conflicts and affected some countries more frequently than others. The strategies rulers employed to stay in power constrained how they recruited, trained, and equipped their armies. Part II explores dynamics that trap the region in conflict--oil dependence, geopolitical interference, and embedded identity cleavages. The catastrophic wars of the 2010s reflect the confounding effects of these traps, culminating in state collapse and intervention from the US and Russia, as well as regional powers like Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Finally, Ahram considers the possibilities of peace, highlighting the disjuncture between local peacebuilding and national and internationally-backed mediation. War and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa will be an essential resource for students of peace and security studies and MENA politics, and anyone wanting to move beyond headlines and soundbites to understand the historical and social roots of MENA's conflicts.

The future of public education and democracy is at risk. Powerful forces are eroding commitment to public schools and weakening democratic resolve. Yet even in deeply troubling times, it is possible to broaden social imagination and empower effective advocacy for systemic progressive reform. Re-envisioning Education and Democracy explores challenges and opportunities for restructuring public education to establish and sustain more broadly inclusive, deeply democratic, and effectively transforming approaches to social inquiry and civic participation. Re-envisioning Education and Democracy adopts a non-traditional format to extend social awareness and imagination. Within each chapter, one episode of an evolving strategic narrative traces the life cycle of a systemic reform initiative. This is followed by an exploratory essay that draws from theory, research, criticism, and practice to prompt consideration of focal issues. Woven through each chapter is a poetically framed meditative stream informed by varied historical and cultural conceptions of oracles. A developmental sequence of social learning strategies (exploratory democratic practices), accompanied by thematic bibliographic references, are included to model democratic teaching and learning applicable in classroom and community settings.

This book examines the continuing devastation in the Darfur region of Sudan, from the perspective of a multiplicity of conflicts of distinct types. The crisis reached its peak in 2003-2004, when certain Arab militias joined forces with the Sudan armed forces in a campaign against insurgent resistance movements. Engulfed in the tumult, Darfurians experienced systematic slaughter, sexual violence, and internal displacement on a massive scale. Although the violence has waned in recent years, the fighting continues to this day. The authors cast this crisis as a complex web of four distinct, yet interlacing, conflict types: long-standing disputes between farmers and herders and between different herder communities political struggles between the local elite leaders of the resistance movements, and those between traditional leaders (elders) and younger aspiring leaders long-standing grievances of marginalized groups against those at the national centre of power cross-border conflicts, primarily the proxy war waged between Chad and Sudan The crisis in South Sudan is also examined through the lens of conflict complementarity. This book will be of interest to students of African politics, genocide, political violence, ethnic conflict, war and conflict studies, peacebuilding and IR.

Since 1961 the Adelphi Papers have provided some of the most informed accounts of international and strategic relations. Produced by the world renowned International Institute of Strategic Studies, each paper provides a short account of a subject of topical interest by a leading military figure, policymaker or academic.

Dr. Evans examines the international responses to the ethnic conflicts in Burundi and Rwanda from 1993-1997 and their overspill into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). A senior UK diplomat, she concludes that the international response was impotent and incoherent--soundbite diplomacy led decision-makers to act before adequately assessing the situation and in the end it was the power of local rather than international intervention that set the agenda and provided the solution.
The author urges a number of changes in response by the international community: that the UN should create a Conflict Analysis Center at its headquarters in New York; that governments need to promote lateral understanding and co-operation between different players, including the media and the non-governmental organization community; that enlightened outside support can be most valuable when an inexperienced government has just taken over; and that greater understanding is needed on the part of Western states that traditional Western patterns of diplomacy are often inappropriate in other regions. Instead, non-party democracy and a strong element of subregional cooperation may be the models for the future.

Over the past decade the Caspian Sea region has risen from relative obscurity to considerable prominence in global affairs. Located at the crossroads of traditional trade routes between Europe and Asia and possessing vast natural resources, oil and natural gas among them, it attracts widespread international interest. The emergence of new sovereign states in the region has fundamentally transformed its political landscape. The future of the Caspian region is far from certain, however, as it is challenged by a wide variety of political, socio-economic and military threats which include the declining living standards of vast segments of local populations, inter-ethnic and inter-confessional tensions and conflicts, militant separatism, international terrorism, and illegal trade in arms and drugs. The security of the region is also affected by the intensifying strategic competition among major outside powers over establishing their political and economic influence in regional affairs. The book offers a competent analysis of the major political, economic and security developments in the region by a diverse group of highly qualified experts from the Caspian littoral states, the USA and the European Union.

Conflict resolution and peacekeeping are not only closely related conceptually, they were also "inventions" of the same historical period. Peacekeeping was first defined under the Hammarskjold Principles of 1956, while we can date the formal institutionalization of conflict resolution to the founding of the "Journal of Conflict Resolution" in 1957. However, it is in the 1990s that conflict resolution theorists turned to the perspectives of conflict theory in an effort to develop more effective practices of peacekeeping. This book is about the ways in which conflict resolution theory has become relevant to the various challenges faced by the United Nations peacekeeping forces as efforts are made to learn from the traumatic and devastating impact of the many civil wars that have erupted in the 1990s.

Conflict resolution and peacekeeping are not only closely related conceptually, they were also "inventions" of the same historical period. Peacekeeping was first defined under the Hammarskjold Principles of 1956, while we can date the formal institutionalization of conflict resolution to the founding of the "Journal of Conflict Resolution" in 1957. However, it is in the 1990s that conflict resolution theorists turned to the perspectives of conflict theory in an effort to develop more effective practices of peacekeeping. This book is about the ways in which conflict resolution theory has become relevant to the various challenges faced by the United Nations peacekeeping forces as efforts are made to learn from the traumatic and devastating impact of the many civil wars that have erupted in the 1990s.

Peace operations entail a special form of co-operation between nation-states and international organization, but tend to be most difficult for the soldiers, police and civilian officials on the ground. This volume highlights the latter role with case studies of Srebrenica and Somalia. More robust peace operations are similar to counter-insurgency. This is an attempt to clarify the types of mission involved and also relate the diplomatic objectives to the bewilderingly complex task of the individual in the field.

Peacekeeping in the late 1990s is a complex and diverse task, in which civilian and military personnel are working together to a greater degree than ever before. However, when an international body such as the UN takes strategic decisions, it does so with inadequate input from the military; in the field, there are clashes of culture, confusion over command and control arrangements and insufficient operational coordination. These issues also affect regional organisations such as NATO. The awkward management of operations and their uneven level of achievement have contributed to a decline in the number of UN peacekeeping operations since 1994. This paper argues that the balance between civilian and military expertise and advice at all levels of a peacekeeping mission - strategic, tactical and operational - needs to be reappraised. At the strategic level: * mandates must be clear, and must respond both to the needs of the situation and to the resources available * there must be regular dialogue between all the principal players, military and civilian; the military-staff capacity at UN headquarters should be made more effective, and should be responsible to the Security Council * major troop-contributing countries should be systematically involved in determining mandates, as well as in reviewing operational plans * senior military officers from all large troop-contributing countries should be based at a mission's field headquarters. At the operational level: * the office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General - the head of a UN peacekeeping mission - should be strengthened. In non-UN operations, the authority of the High Representative needs to be increased * a cadre of civilian officials with peacekeeping experience needs to be developed; standard operating procedures for the civilian head of a mission to follow when dealing with the military need to be developed * greater emphasis should be placed on the 'softer' aspects of military science - managing resources, civilian control and human rights * the reluctance of civilians and non-governmental organisations to engage with the military should be addressed. Much experience has been gained from the peacekeeping operations of the 1990s, but both military and civilian participants must make considerably more progress before they can be said to have forged a partnership that makes them an effective intervention force

This book fills a major gap in the study of inter-war British foreign policy: it is the first complete study of Austen Chamberlain's term of office as Stanley Baldwin's Foreign Secretary from 1924-29. It is argued that Chamberlain's priority was a two-stage policy in western Europe, which aimed at pacifying both France and Germany, as well as encouraging the League of Nations. Other key chapters deal with British policy in the Middle East and China and policy Towards America. Overall, Chamberlain is shown to have committed Britain to a European diplomatic role, which was opposed by Cabinet ministers who did not see a European interest to all aspects of British foreign policy. Today, in the Conservative Party, the debate is still unresolved.

Donald M. Snow invites readers to consider what criteria should be evaluated when considering whether the United States should engage in military action across the globe: when its vital interests are at stake and when the endeavor can reasonably be considered feasible, what Snow refers to as the "IF factor." It is hard to justify promoting an application of American military force to a situation where its use will not succeed or where US interests are not clearly vital, but, Snow argues, that is exactly what has happened frequently since Vietnam. The book is organized into three sections, examining a historical overview of how the United States became involved in intervening in asymmetrical warfare, the problem of internal war in the developing world, and future American military involvement, particularly in conflicts in the Global South and Ukraine.

A revealing memoir by the Israeli leader who almost made peace with the Palestinians. Written almost entirely from inside a prison cell, Rise and Fall is the compelling memoir of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. The child of parents who were members of the Irgun, the paramilitary group that fought for the establishment of Israel, Olmert became the youngest member of the Israeli Knesset in 1973, serving in the right-wing Likud party. He rose quickly in the party, serving in national government before being elected mayor of Jerusalem in 1993. As mayor he overcame decades of municipal malaise, inertia, and waves of terror attacks to bring huge improvements in the city's infrastructure, education, and welfare. Although a child of the Israeli right, it was during his mayoralty that he realized the inevitability of compromise and the need to divide the city in any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. Olmert rejoined the national government in 2003 as a top aide to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. After Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke in 2006, Olmert took over as acting prime minister, then led Sharon's new centrist party Kadima to victory in elections. Heading a coalition government, Olmert led Israel through the war with Lebanon in July 2006 and approved the dramatic strike on Syria's nuclear reactor the following year. From late 2006 through 2008, Olmert engaged in some three dozen negotiations with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. The talks, Olmert says, came "within a hair's breadth" of reaching a comprehensive peace deal. At the same time, Olmert was fighting allegations that he had illegally accepted large sums of money from a well-connected American businessman. He was acquitted of all but a minor charge against him, but in 2014 he was convicted on charges of taking $15,000 in bribes involving the construction of an industrial park while he served as Minister of Industry and Trade. He served 16 months in prison, using his time to write these memoirs. Rise and Fall offers a riveting political story and an unparalleled window into Israeli history, peacemaking, politics, U.S.-Israel relations, and the future of the Middle East.

This book considers contemporary international interventions with a specific focus on analyzing the frameworks that have guided recent peacekeeping operations led by the United Nations. Drawing from the work of Michel Foucault and Foucauldian-inspired approaches in the field of International Relations, it highlights how interventions can be viewed through the lens of governmentality and its key attendant concepts. The book draws from these approaches in order to explore how international interventions are increasingly informed by governmental rationalities of security and policing. Two specific cases are examined: the UN's Security Sector Reform (SSR) approach and the UN's Protection of Civilians agenda. Focusing on the governmental rationalities that are at work in these two central frameworks that have come to guide contemporary UN-led peacekeeping efforts in recent years, the book considers: The use in IR of governmentality and its attendant notions of biopower and sovereign power The recent discussion regarding the concept and practice of international policing and police reform The rise of security as a rationality of government and the manner in which security and police rationalities interconnect and have increasingly come to inform peacekeeping efforts The Security Sector Reform (SSR) framework for peacebuilding and the rise of the UN's Protection of Civilians agenda. This book will be of interest to graduates and scholars of international relations, security studies, critical theory, and conflict and intervention.