Feature articles in this theme:
By Matt Armstrong
19 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
A subtle evolution of United Nations peacekeeping operations is
underway. If the first of these missions kept an agreed-upon peace, and
later missions sought to make peace, several countries now use these
operations to advance their foreign and economic policy agendas, and
raise their global profile. This shift may raise the
standard of conduct in U.N. peacekeeping operations, but there are significant downsides
to this approach.
By Brendan Brady
19 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
Timor-Leste's President José Ramos-Horta
has often emphasized the value of moving beyond the past. But in an interview with World Politics Review, Ramos-Horta, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his
nonviolent work toward independence, reflects on the successes and failures of the U.N.'s 1999-2002 peacekeeping
mission and of subsequent international aid in Timor-Leste.
By Cedric de Coning
19 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
It is now widely recognized that managing conflict requires a multidimensional, comprehensive,
whole-of-government or integrated approach, with the African Union, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization and the United Nations each having developed their own
specific approaches aimed at fostering greater coherence. But while all convey the understanding that operations must
be coordinated among the various actors involved, each of these four organizations has a different
understanding of what this means in practice.
By Richard Gowan
19 May 2010 |
World Politics Review
Over the last decade, the Security Council has mandated a series of
increasingly ambitious peace operations. The U.N. now commands just more
than 100,000 troops and police worldwide. Yet as its operational reach
has grown, it has found itself trapped in situations in which it has
been forced to sacrifice principles for the sake of political
pragmatism, and to support a range of undemocratic and unpleasant
regimes.