Facing threats ranging from Islamist insurgencies to the Ebola pandemic, African regional actors are playing an increasingly vital role in safeguarding peace and stability across the continent. But while the African Union has demonstrated its ability to deploy forces on short notice and in difficult circumstances, the challenges posed by increasingly complex conflict zones have revealed a widening divide between the theory and practice of peacekeeping. With the AU's African Standby Force becoming fully operational in 2016, this timely and much-needed work argues that responding to these challenges will require a new and distinctively African model of peacekeeping, as well as a radical revision of the current African security framework. The first book to provide a comprehensive overview and analysis of African peace operations, The Future of African Peace Operations gives a long overdue assessment of the ways in which peacekeeping on the continent has evolved over the past decade. It will be a vital resource for policy makers, researchers and all those seeking solutions and insights into the immense security challenges which Africa is facing today.

The second edition of this well received handbook provides a comprehensive overview and annotated commentary of those areas of international law most relevant to the planning and conduct of military operations. It covers a wide scope of military operations, ranging from operations conducted under UN Security Council mandate to (collective) self-defence and consensual and humanitarian operations and identifies the relevant legal bases and applicable legal regimes governing the application of force and treatment of persons during such operations. It also devotes attention to the law governing the status of forces, military use of the sea and airspace and questions of international (criminal) responsibility for breaches of international law. New developments such as cyber warfare and controversial aspects of law in relation to contemporary operations, such as targeted killing of specific individuals are discussed and analysed, alongside recent developments in more traditional types of operations, such as peacekeeping and naval operations. The book is aimed at policy officials, commanders and their (military) legal advisors who are involved with the planning and conduct of any type of military operation and is intended to complement national and international policy and legal guidelines and assist in identifying and applying the law to ensure legitimacy and contribute to mission accomplishment. It likewise fulfils a need in pertinent international organizations, such as the UN, NATO, Regional Organizations, and NGOs. It also serves as a comprehensive work of reference to academics and is suitable for courses at military staff colleges, academies and universities, which devote attention to one or more aspects of international law treated in the book. This mix of intended users is reflected in the contributors who include senior (former) policy officials and (military) legal advisors, alongside academics engaged in teaching and research in these areas of international law.

As the U.S. experience in Iraq following the 2003 invasion made abundantly clear, failure to properly plan for risks associated with postconflict stabilization and reconstruction can have a devastating impact on the overall success of a military mission. In Waging War, Planning Peace, Aaron Rapport investigates how U.S. presidents and their senior advisers have managed vital noncombat activities while the nation is in the midst of fighting or preparing to fight major wars. He argues that research from psychology-specifically, construal level theory-can help explain how individuals reason about the costs of postconflict noncombat operations that they perceive as lying in the distant future.In addition to preparations for "Phase IV" in the lead-up to the Iraq War, Rapport looks at the occupation of Germany after World War II, the planned occupation of North Korea in 1950, and noncombat operations in Vietnam in 1964 and 1965. Applying his insights to these cases, he finds that civilian and military planners tend to think about near-term tasks in concrete terms, seriously assessing the feasibility of the means they plan to employ to secure valued ends. For tasks they perceive as further removed in time, they tend to focus more on the desirability of the overarching goals they are pursuing rather than the potential costs, risks, and challenges associated with the means necessary to achieve these goals. Construal level theory, Rapport contends, provides a coherent explanation of how a strategic disconnect can occur. It can also show postwar planners how to avoid such perilous missteps.

The Procedure of the UN Security Council is the definitive book of its kind and has been widely used by UN practitioners and scholars for nearly 40 years. This comprehensively revised edition contains over 450 pages of new material documenting the extensive and rapid innovations in the Council's procedures of the past two decades. A one-stop handbook and guide, with meticulous referencing, this book has served diplomats, UN staff and scholars alike in providing unique insight into the inside workings of the world's preeminent body for the maintenance of international peace and security. Thoroughly grounded in the history and politics of the Council, it brings to life the ways the Council has responded through its working methods to a changing world. The book explains the Council's role in its wider UN Charter context and examines its relations with other UN organs and with its own subsidiary bodies. This includes the remarkable expansion in UN peacekeeping, peacebuilding and political missions, sanctions and counter-terrorism bodies, and international legal tribunals. It contains detailed analysis of voting and decision-taking by the Council, as well as the place, format, and conduct of meetings. It also seeks to illuminate the personalities behind the Council's work - ranging from the diplomats who sit on the Council itself to the UN Secretary-General, and those outside the Council affected by its decisions. It concludes with reflections on the improvements that have made to the Council's procedures over many decades, and the scope for further reform.

What is the peacekeeper's role in the 21st century? Peacekeeping, peace enforcement and 'stability operations' ask soldiers to use violence to create peace, defeat armed threats while having no enemies and uphold human rights without taking sides. The justice of 'humanitarian intervention' and 'the responsibility to protect' fascinates analysts and practitioners alike when the world is watching crises unfold and wondering whether to step in. But once the cavalry has been sent in - often founded by wealthy nations, but with individuals from the developing world on the ground - less attention is paid to the moral challenges peacekeepers face. The traditional categories of just war theory provide insufficient guidance in this complicated moral landscape. Built on careful moral reflection and scores of interviews with peacekeepers, trainers and planners in the field, this book sheds light on the challenges of peacekeeping - challenges likely to be characteristic of an increasing number of military engagements. The book is also about how peacekeepers can meet those moral challenges through building genuine partnerships with people in conflict. It includes material based on over 50 interviews with soldiers, police, trainers and planners from Africa, Europe and the United States. It addresses difficult questions about practical implementation and provides guidance to peacekeepers on the ground.

The trauma of hostile fire, roadside bombs, mines, and the ab- duction and death of comrades is told in vivid, unforgettable detail. "The fundamental and essential purpose of the United Nations is to keep the peace. Everything which does not further that goal, either directly or indirectly, is at best superfluous." – Henry Cabot Lodge, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations From the 1950s to the present day, Canadian peacekeepers have been employed as a stabilizing force and an instrument of peace in every corner of the globe. In this first-hand account, Terry "Stoney" Burke paints a graphic picture of a peacekeeper’s life in one of the most tumultuous and dangerous regions of the world. From the war-torn island of Cyprus, through his later missions in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, we follow him as he weaves an intriguing narrative of life as a Canadian peacekeeper.

Refugee policy has not kept pace with new realities in international and humanitarian affairs. Recent policy failures have resulted in instability, terrible hardships, and massive loss of life. This book systematically analyzes refugee policy responses over the past decade and calls for specific reforms to make policy more proactive and comprehensive. Refugee policy must be more than the administration of misery. Responses should be calculated to help prevent or mitigate future humanitarian catastrophes. More international cooperation is needed in advance of crises. Humanitarian structures within governments, notably the United States, as well as the wide variety o international institutions involved in humanitarian action must be re-oriented to cope with new challenges.

This is the first study to investigate the interlinked problems of domestic security and national defence in Ireland, from independence to the present day. Using a wealth of newly released material from Irish and foreign archives, Professor O'Halpin describes the development of the army and police since 1922, and examines how the emerging Irish state tried to balance an absolute commitment to military neutrality and independent defence with the need for close co-operation with Britain in dealing with perceived republican and communist threats.

In 2003, just before the start of the US invasion of Iraq, military planners predicted that the mission's success would depend on using diverse sources for their workforce. While thousands of US troops were needed to secure victory in the field, large numbers of civilian contractors - many from poor countries in Africa and Asia - were recruited to provide a range of services for the occupying forces. In Contract Workers, Risk, and the War in Iraq Kevin Thomas provides a compelling account of the recruitment of Sierra Leonean workers and their reasons for embracing the risks of migration. In recent years US military bases have outsourced contracts for services to private military corporations who recruit and capitalize on cheaper low-skilled workers. Thomas argues that for people from post-conflict countries such as Sierra Leone, where there are high levels of poverty and acute unemployment, the opportunity to improve their situation outweighs the risk of migration to war-torn Iraq. Examining migrants' experiences in their native country, at US bases, and after their return to Sierra Leone, Thomas deftly explores the intricate dynamics of risk, sets up a theoretical framework for future researchers, and offers policy recommendations for decision-makers and practitioners in the field. Incorporating the voices of Sierra Leonean contractors who were manipulated and exploited, Contract Workers, Risk, and the War in Iraq turns the spotlight on a subject that has remained on the periphery of history and reveals an unexpected consequence of the War on Terror.

Peacekeeping has been the technique most frequently used by, and associated with, the United Nations to end conflicts and to preserve peace. In addition, international and regional organizations have also performed peacekeeping functions. Since the establishment of the first UN peacekeeping mission, UNEF I, in 1956, international lawyers have raised questions about the legal aspects of these operations. Traditionally, they analyzed the constitutional basis for peacekeeping and tried to allocate the authority under the UN Charter for peacekeeping among the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Secretary General. They discussed the use of force by peacekeepers, the applicability of international humanitarian law, as well as the responsibilities and liabilities of peacekeepers. Since the end of the cold war, peacekeeping operations have become more complex. In the first forty years, peacekeepers functioned mainly as buffer zones between warring parties and monitored cease-fires. Nowadays, they are increasingly engaged in internal rather than international conflicts and perform a multitude of tasks. Among others, they act as civilian administrators, oversee elections and monitor human rights. These changes have raised new legal problems. Which human rights obligations exist for peacekeepers? Do peacekeepers have to intervene if they witness war crimes and acts of genocide? How are they protected under international law? What is the legal framework of UN administrations like in Kosovo and East Timor? In order to enhance a better understanding of these legal issues arising from peacekeeping operations, a collection of articles written by the leading experts in the field have been compiled in the volume, International Peacekeeping.

With Wilson's Ghost , Robert S. McNamara and James G. Blight deliver an impassioned plea and a decisive and multi-faceted program for making the 21st century a more peaceful century than the last. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the war that has followed, have made their argument even more imperative. In a provocative synthesis of the pragmatic, historical, and philosophical arguments for avoiding war and achieving a sustainable peace, McNamara and Blight put forth a plan for realizing Woodrow Wilson's dream. The plan begins with a moral imperative that establishes the reduction of human carnage as a major goal of foreign policy across the globe, and details the necessity of adopting new policies to support that goal. McNamara and Blight argue that now is the time for a radical approach to reducing the risk of human carnage, and they demonstrate why we cannot afford to fail in this effort.

Saving Strangers examines the extent to which humanitarian intervention has become a legitimate practice in international society. It maps the changing legitimacy of humanitarian intervention by comparing the international response to cases of humanitarian intervention in the cold war and post-cold war periods. Crucially, the book examines how far international society has recognised humanitarian intervention as a legitimate exception to the rules of sovereignty and non-intervention and non-use of force. While there are studies of each case of intervention - in East Pakistan, Cambodia, Uganda, Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Kosovo, there is no single work that examines them comprehensively in a comparative framework.