This talk will present findings from a collaborative project that has examined how the withdrawal of peacekeeping operations shapes conditions on the ground in states that have previously hosted UN peacekeeping missions.
After introducing the project, we will report key findings from a quantitative, cross-national study that has documented trajectories of security, governance, and the economy in former host states during the ten years that follow mission exit. Noting that those trajectories vary significantly across former host states, we will then introduce an analytic framework that can be used to assess and partly explain post-peacekeeping outcomes. That framework highlights three key explanatory factors: the degree and nature of peacekeeping impact, while missions are deployed; the planning and management of peacekeeping transition processes (drawdown and withdrawal); the nature of follow-on peacebuilding arrangements after peacekeepers leave, which may see the UN and other international actors partly substitute for roles previously performed by the peacekeeping mission. Finally, drawing on original data from large-scale population surveys, as well as qualitative interviews and document analysis, we will apply this framework to brief overviews of post-peacekeeping trajectories of three countries where UN peacekeeping missions have recently closed: Liberia, Haiti, and Cote d’Ivoire.
John Gledhill is Associate Professor of Global Governance in Oxford's Department of International Development, and a Fellow of St Cross College. In his research, John investigates diverse themes of peace and conflict, including peacekeeping and peacebuilding, conflict processes, state formation and dissolution, nonviolent resistance, and (transnational) social mobilisation.
Richard Caplan is Professor of International Relations and an Official Fellow of Linacre College. His principal research interests are concerned with international organisations and conflict management, with a particular focus on peacekeeping and 'post-conflict' peace- and state-building.
Andrea Ruggeri is Professor of Political Science and International Relations and Director of the Centre for International Studies at the University of Oxford. His current research deals with civil wars and peacekeeping. His broader research interests include collective political violence, state development, and comparative politics in Africa and Middle East.
Denisa Kostovicova is an Associate Professor in Global Politics at LSE European Institute.
This seminar is co-hosted with the European Institute's Beyond Eurocentirsm Programme.