UN Troop Deployment and Preventing Violence Against Civilians in Darfur

ABSTRACT

Does the presence of UN peacekeeping force lower civilian fatalities at the local level? If it does, is it because of their coercive military capacity or for other reasons such as their roles in monitoring and reporting violent atrocities? To explore these questions, I study the deployment of peacekeeping units in Darfur and its impact on violence against civilians. Using original geocoded data of UN deployments before and after the intervention, I examine what aspects of such deployments impact one-sided civilian killings by government and rebel groups. Results indicate that deploying UN peacekeepers in an area restrains belligerent from targeting civilians. However, the military capacity of peacekeepers is not a significant predictor of violence against civilians. While their ability to defend themselves is extremely important for peacekeepers, these findings caution against the militarization trend in UN peacekeeping and seek to reshift focus on other substantive aspects of peacekeeping.     

Jan Christian Smuts (1870–1950) in Context: An Answer to Mazower and Morefield

This article engages with the recent scholarship of Mark Mazower and Jeanne Morefield regarding the South African and Commonwealth statesman Jan Christian Smuts (1870–1950), and in particular with their contention that Smuts was preoccupied with issues of racial superiority, and that this was his main motivator in matters of politics, both internationally and domestically. However, during his lifetime Smuts did not see the ‘Native question’ in the form in which it manifested from the 1950s onwards. It is therefore unfair and inaccurate to over-emphasise the racial question when writing about Smuts. Any historical account of Smuts must keep at least one eye on what Smuts could not have foreseen and must place Smuts in the context of his own time. Progression from smaller to greater wholes – one white nation instead of two language sections; a united South Africa instead of divided colonies and republics; membership of self-governing Dominions in a single British Commonwealth, and membership of international organisations, in particular the League of Nations, and later the United Nations – these were the ends to which Smuts’ energies were unreservedly devoted throughout his career. This is the correct lens through which to view Smuts’ liberal credentials.     

The Commonwealth,Gender and Peacekeeping

Abstract

Reflecting on the strategic commitment outlined in the Plan of Action for Gender Equality (2005–2015) and the priority issues of the Commonwealth Women’s Forum, this article assesses the extent to which the Commonwealth as an institution is supporting troop- and police-contributing member states in addressing the gender imbalance in peacekeeping operations. Drawing on desk-based research, interviews with international policymakers and a statistical analysis of the International Peace Institute Peacekeeping Database, the article first outlines the Commonwealth’s gender and security policy perspective before examining datasets to determine the success of Commonwealth member states in integrating women into uniformed peacekeeping contingents between 2009 and 2015. The article observes that, in spite of a renewed optimism and drive to propel women into leadership positions in politics, the judiciary, public bodies and private companies, security-sector reform and the implementation of pillar one of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 are notably absent from the Commonwealth’s gender agenda. It is argued that this policy gap suggests that national and international security architecture is regarded as an accepted domain of male privilege. A lack of political will among Commonwealth heads of government to mainstream gender equality and facilitate structural transformation of national security organs and a chronically under resourced Commonwealth Secretariat limit the influence of the institution to that of arms-length promoter of international norms on women, peace and security.     

Rising powers at the UN: an analysis of the voting behaviour of brics in the General Assembly

This article examines the long-term trends of foreign policy convergence of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (brics) to determine the similarity of their positions on world issues, as they seek to ‘insert’ themselves more fully into global decision making. The analysis is based upon their votes in the UN General Assembly. The article compiles two indexes of voting for the period 1974–2011. Both demonstrate a high and now growing degree of cohesion among brics. Their voting is broken down by pairs to show common themes and the major issue divergences, and how often individual states voted with others. Nuclear disarmament and human rights are the two areas that reveal persisting divergences between these states.     

When Liberal Peacebuilding Fails: Paradoxes of Implementing Ownership and Accountability in the Integrated Approach

As a consequence of the popularity of integrated and nationally owned peace processes, aligning external actors to a national peacebuilding strategy has become part of the recipe for success. Using the case of Sierra Leone, this article engages with the question of what constructing such unified peacebuilding agenda in fragile states means politically. Contrasting the purpose of peacebuilding with the practices through which it is carried out, the article argues that the implementation of a unified peacebuilding agenda to a large extent undermines the liberal pretences of peacebuilding. While the integration of government, civil society and donors works to portray a more ordered society in countries where the lack of such order has been a manifest security problem, it also works to undermine the crucial autonomy of and accountability between them.     

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan: Impartiality in New UN Peace Operations

Abstract

Set within the complex contemporary context of international interventions, UN peacekeeping operations have now evolved into peace operations. The emergence of the concepts of human security and the responsibility to protect have raised expectations that UN peace operations should deal with both macro and micro level insecurity in conflict and post-conflict situations, especially in the case of failed or collapsed states. Reflecting this development, the question of an appropriate framework in which to conceptualize peace operations has also been debated. This essay considers a conceptualization of UN peace operations from a conflict resolution perspective and analyses the case of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), using a framework of conflict transformation. It argues that the impartiality of UN operations has been reconceived in terms of the values of ‘human security’ and the ‘responsibility to protect’, making it vital to explicitly articulate the meaning and implications of ‘value-based’ impartiality.     

联合国反恐规约在我国的贯彻实施

我国政府历来重视预防和惩治恐怖主义,并与相关国际组织和国家开展了广泛的反恐合作。到目前为止,我国已经加入了绝大部分国际反恐公约。我国反恐立法的范围及主要内容在实体法和程序法中均有体现。但我国现行的反恐立法存在缺陷。应依据联合国反恐规约完善我国的反恐立法。     

冲突后国家警察改革与民众安全治理 ——以联合国维和行动为视角

武装冲突刚刚结束后的国家容易出现安全缺口,普通民众依然面临着诸多安全威胁,主要有前战斗人员和缺乏管控的武器、不断上升的犯罪率、与选举相关的暴力及针对妇女儿童的犯罪等。此时,国家尚缺乏有效的国内治安治理机制和能力,警察机构亟须改革乃至重建。当今联合国维和行动越来越注重协助冲突后国家警察部门的改革与能力建设。改革应力求标本兼治,既缓解冲突后民众安全需求的燃眉之急,又注重警察部门中、长期的机构建设和发展。改革应以民众的安全为首要目标,重点是警察民主警务观念及技能的培养、组织架构及管理机制的建立,尤其是内部监督机制的建立与有效执行。此外,还应注意本土化问题。改革在实施过程中存在诸多挑战,如当地警力资源的匮乏、警察的公共形象差、民众的弱势地位、国际援助部门之间缺乏协调等。该文亦对增强冲突后国家警察队伍能力建设及民众保护问题提出了若干建议。     

联合国维和行动武力使用的法律问题

冷战以后联合国维和行动频繁使用武力,这在解决某些问题时的确起到了积极作用,但也使维和行动受到更多非议。维和部队使用武力,包括合法和非法两种情形,坚持合法并严格限制武力使用,是维和行动得以顺利进行和成功的基础。     

联合国维持和平行动与后殖民国家建构(1980—2015年)

联合国是维和行动主要的组织者和实施者。冷战结束以来,西方主导的联合国维和的目标由维护和平逐渐转变为战后重建,并开始承担复杂的国家建构任务。一方面,维和给目标国带来了和平,维和人员的日常开支对目标国经济的恢复和发展作出了一定贡献。但是维和任务的速成性和维和经济造成的收入两极分化等因素,都对目标国的经济发展产生了消极影响。另一方面,维和人员的税收豁免权、维和人员与其他社会群体的收入差距以及由此导致的政府部门人才流失和腐败、平行行政部门的出现等都严重削弱了政府对社会的渗透和控制能力。不仅如此,维和人员税收豁免和收入两极分化显著地降低了民众的纳税意愿,使得逃税和抗税盛行,提高了征税难度。维和部队对于目标国政府军向民众单方面使用暴力采取的不干涉态度,也强化了社会抗税心理。所以,西方主导的联合国维和行动既缩小了目标国的税基,降低了官僚机构的效能,又打击了民众的纳税意愿,显著地降低了目标国的财政汲取能力。本文对1980—2015年126个后殖民国家的大样本统计分析表明,无论是短期还是长期,西方主导的联合国维和行动和后殖民目标国的汲取能力都呈显著的负相关关系。