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Rethinking the UN through intra-state peacekeeping: the analytical framework

Eşref Aksu

in The United Nations, Intra-state Peacekeeping and Normative Change

This chapter discusses the analytical framework used in this study of the United Nations' role in intra-state peacekeeping. The study uses historical structural method to analyse the normative ... More

This chapter discusses the analytical framework used in this study of the United Nations' role in intra-state peacekeeping. The study uses historical structural method to analyse the normative discourses of relevant actors in peacekeeping environments. It establishes whether questions pertaining to objectives, functions and authority are addressed by the relevant actors in any direct or obvious sense and then analyses significant clusters of normative views in relation to peacekeeping environments, focusing on the extent to which differences of opinion and perception between crucial actors have a bearing on the UN's response to intra-state conflicts in the different periods.Less

Humanitarian Intervention in the Balkans

Nicholas Morris*

in Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations

Assesses the success of the two humanitarian interventions in the Balkans – Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 – from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. It argues how, ironically, the ... More

Assesses the success of the two humanitarian interventions in the Balkans – Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 – from the perspective of humanitarian organizations. It argues how, ironically, the effectiveness of organizations such as UNHCR can dissuade powerful states from taking the necessary steps to address the root causes of massive human rights violations. Slow and ambiguous action from the international community can raise false expectations on the part of suffering civilians, and embolden those who commit atrocities. The author argues that the political, military, and humanitarian strands of interventions are always closely interwoven, and draws a series of lessons from the Balkans experience: the need for the international community to act early, credibly, and consistently; the importance of preserving the identity of a humanitarian operation; the imperative to end the impunity of those who orchestrate and commit massive violations of human rights; and the importance of engaging the United Nations.Less

The UN and intra-state conflicts: problematising the normative connection

Eşref Aksu

in The United Nations, Intra-state Peacekeeping and Normative Change

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume, which is about the connection between the United Nations' (UN) evolving approach to intra-state conflicts and the value system of the ... More

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume, which is about the connection between the United Nations' (UN) evolving approach to intra-state conflicts and the value system of the international community. This study takes issue with the relatively reductionist explanations of what the UN is and how it relates to peace and security. It explores the interest-norm complexes within which the cases in the Congo, Cyprus, Angola, and Cambodia were handled by the UN. This volume shows how relevant actors' normative preferences were resolved in specific peacekeeping environments where the UN was especially active in addressing intra-state conflicts.Less

The UN's role in historical context: impact of structural tensions and thresholds

Eşref Aksu

in The United Nations, Intra-state Peacekeeping and Normative Change

This chapter examines the history and evolution of the United Nations' (UN) response to intra-state conflicts after World War 2. It identifies the most significant ‘material’ and ‘ideational’ ... More

This chapter examines the history and evolution of the United Nations' (UN) response to intra-state conflicts after World War 2. It identifies the most significant ‘material’ and ‘ideational’ configurations that evolved in connection with the UN as an institution and impacted on the behaviour of and prescriptions for the UN as an actor in peacekeeping environments. This chapter describes how the Cold War and the North-South confrontation manifested themselves as part of the structural evolution of the international system, which both constrained and facilitated the relationship between international actors and the UN.Less

Reflections on international normative change

Eşref Aksu

in The United Nations, Intra-state Peacekeeping and Normative Change

This chapter focuses on the normative change in the international peacekeeping operations of the United Nations (UN). It explains that the normative basis of UN peacekeeping in intra-state conflicts ... More

This chapter focuses on the normative change in the international peacekeeping operations of the United Nations (UN). It explains that the normative basis of UN peacekeeping in intra-state conflicts has evolved unevenly but appreciably in terms of both objectives and authority from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. It analyses the collective expectations of the international community, focusing specifically on the objectives and authority of the UN in relation to intra-state peacekeeping environments in the two specified time periods.Less

The UN in the Cyprus conflict: UNFICYP

Eşref Aksu

in The United Nations, Intra-state Peacekeeping and Normative Change

This chapter analyses the intervention of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in the intra-state conflict in Cyprus. It considers different interpretations of the Cyprus ... More

This chapter analyses the intervention of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in the intra-state conflict in Cyprus. It considers different interpretations of the Cyprus conflict and discusses the ambiguous nature of UNFICYP's mandate which arose out of the tensions between the different interests at stake and the normative preferences that accompanied them. This chapter suggest that the UN's involvement in the Cyprus conflict reflected a dominant preoccupation with the maintenance of regional stability, and in that sense international peace and security.Less

Nested Security beyond Europe

Erin K. Jenne

in Nested Security: Lessons in Conflict Management from the League of Nations and the European Union

This chapter tests the transportability of the nested security model beyond qualitative case studies in Europe using quantitative analysis of mediated low-intensity conflicts around the world from ... More

This chapter tests the transportability of the nested security model beyond qualitative case studies in Europe using quantitative analysis of mediated low-intensity conflicts around the world from 1993 to 2004. The analysis is drawn from a coauthored paper that uses the Mediated Intra-State Conflicts (MILC) dataset, housed at the Uppsala University Department of Peace and Conflict Research. It demonstrates that the conflict environment at the international level is correlated with domestic conflict intensity both outside Europe and outside regional security regimes. This suggests that the theory applies to mediated conflicts worldwide, demonstrating the validity of nested security beyond the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The analysis' findings, although not conclusive, support the most important prediction of nested security—that regional stability is strongly associated with the severity of conflict in the target state.Less

The ‘New Wars’ Thesis Revisited

Mats Berdal

in The Changing Character of War

This chapter focuses on the so-called ‘new wars’ that emerged in the late twentieth century. It examines the proposition that contemporary wars are ‘substantively distinct’ from older patterns of ... More

This chapter focuses on the so-called ‘new wars’ that emerged in the late twentieth century. It examines the proposition that contemporary wars are ‘substantively distinct’ from older patterns of armed conflict and, as such, the ‘new wars’ reflect a new reality. Two related aspects to this general proposition are considered. The first concerns the idea of a historical disjunction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ wars and the accompanying argument that links the emergence of ‘new wars’ to two fundamental processes of change: globalization in the late twentieth century and the end of the Cold War. The second aspect concerns the actual features of the ‘new wars’ and the way in which ‘they differ from earlier wars in terms of their goals, the methods of warfare, and how they are financed’. The most interesting of these relates to the economic underpinnings of contemporary intra-state armed conflicts.Less

Tactical rape in the former Yugoslavia

Brenda Fitzpatrick

in Tactical Rape in War and Conflict: International Recognition and Response

This chapter analyses the establishment, operation, achievements and failures of the International criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It focusses on definitions and outcomes in cases ... More

This chapter analyses the establishment, operation, achievements and failures of the International criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It focusses on definitions and outcomes in cases involving tactical rape and sexual violence in the conflict in the 1990s. It reviews how tactical rape is viewed as a strategy and is policy determined. Rulings apply to tactical rape and sexual violence and the reality that such crimes could be dealt with under existing international law: they could be judged to be crimes against humanity, war crimes and acts of torture. Rulings established command responsibility reaching up to a head of state and the nature of conflicts to include both inter and intra state conflicts. Achievements and criticisms are reviewed. Testimonies are reviewed to demonstrate the suffering of survivors and victims.Less

“Wisconsin Works” in Israel? Imported Ideas, Domestic Coalitions, and the Institutional Politics of Recommodification

Sara Helman

Asa Maron (ed.)

in Neoliberalism as a State Project: Changing the Political Economy of Israel

The spread of workfare to Israel and elsewhere in the world is typically attributed to the power of a globalized neoliberal orthodoxy. This chapter demonstrates how, on the contrary, the introduction ... More

The spread of workfare to Israel and elsewhere in the world is typically attributed to the power of a globalized neoliberal orthodoxy. This chapter demonstrates how, on the contrary, the introduction of new employment and social policies in Israel bearing the Wisconsin moniker was an attempt to resolve intra-state conflict regarding the goals and instruments of state intervention in the labor market. These conflicts were resolved through by importing new policy ideas. Via translation, it was possible to assemble a change coalition and advance domestic institutional change. Nevertheless, due to the persistence of intra-state conflicts over the goals and instruments of social and labor policies, workfare was implemented alongside existing institutions to create a new institutional layer. Layering was instrumental in overcoming opposition to the program, but also made it vulnerable to politicization. This politicization brought about the interruption of the program five years after its inception.Less