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ABSTRACT
This article analyses direct forms of the ‘protection of civilians’ (PoC) in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, and how this links to aspirations outlined by cosmopolitan scholarship at the turn of the twentieth century. Its main contention is that cosmopolitan conceptions of peacekeeping, which advocate more active forms of civilian protection, have faced significant challenges in the UN peacekeeping system. These challenges (internal and external) are a result of the state-based nature of the UN, and its peacekeeping practice. Therefore, the UN’s flexibility to adopt ethical practices associated with PoC can only be contained within confined boundaries. The article takes as its starting point the aspirations of cosmopolitan scholarship before outlining policy development in UN peacekeeping concerning PoC. It then explores internal and external challenges faced in operationalizing PoC in UN peacekeeping practice before arguing that the UN may be at a stage where it is ‘muddling through’ in terms of PoC. The article contributes to debates about the role of peacekeeping in global politics, through seeking to understand the possible limits of cosmopolitanism within peacekeeping practice. Moreover, it offers a contemporary understanding of where the UN has developed PoC in its deployments and what challenges remain.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the editors of International Peacekeeping and the two anonymous reviewers for the helpful comments and guidance. Moreover, thanks to the organization ‘Global Action to Prevent War’ for the valuable assistance during the research phase.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
About the Author
David Curran is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, specializing in Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, and Conflict Resolution. David’s primary research investigates the role of conflict resolution in training programmes for military peacekeepers, which is the topic of his forthcoming monograph to be released in 2017 (with Springer Press). Additionally, David undertakes research into the United Kingdom’s relationship with UN. David’s recent publications include; ‘The United Kingdom and United Nations Peace Operations’ (with Paul D. Williams, International Peacekeeping, 2016), ‘Perspectives on Peacekeeping and Atrocity Prevention – Expanding Stakeholders and Regional Arrangements’ (co-editor, Springer, 2015); ‘Resonating, Rejecting, Reinterpreting: Mapping the Stabilisation Discourse in the United Nations Security Council, 2000–2014’ (with Paul Holtom, Stability Journal, 2015) ‘Training for Peacekeeping: Towards Increased Understanding of Conflict Resolution’ (International Peacekeeping, 2013); ‘The ‘Bradford Model’ and the Contribution of Conflict Resolution to the Field of International Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding’ (Journal of Conflictology, 2012); ‘Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding in Sierra Leone: What Can Africa Contribute?’ (with Tom Woodhouse International Affairs, 2007).
ORCID
David Curran http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2836-5496
Notes
1 Woodhouse and Ramsbotham, “Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping.”
2 Pugh, “Peacekeeping and IR Theory,” 106.
3 MacQueen, Peacekeeping and the International System, 246.
4 Woodhouse and Ramsbotham, “Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping,” 141.
5 Ibid., 140.
6 UN Security Council Resolution 1296 (S/RES/1296).
7 Woodhouse and Ramsbotham, “Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping,” 143.
8 Gowan, “Happy Birthday, UN.”
9 UN, Secretary-General Presents His Annual Report to General Assembly.
10 See, for instance, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 11, No. 1, Spring 2004.
11 Held, “Cosmopolitanism, Democracy,” 164.
12 Held, “How to Rule the World,” 28; Held, Democracy and the Global Order.
13 Kaldor, New and Old Wars, 122.
14 Kaldor, New and Old Wars, 125
15 Elliot and Cheeseman, “Introduction,” 4.
16 Ibid., 4.
17 Elliot, “Cosmopolitan Ethics and Militaries',” 24.
18 Cheeseman and Elliot, “Conclusion,” 278.
19 Goulding, “Cosmopolitan Purposes and the United Nations,” 108.
20 UN Security Council Resolution 1296 (S/RES/1296).
21 UN, Implementing the Responsibility to Protect, 8–9.
22 Ibid., 27.
23 Ibid., 18.
24 World Federalist Movement/Global Action to Prevent War, UNEPS Backgrounder.
25 Curran and Woodhouse, “Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping,” 1065.
26 Study Group on Europe’s Security Capabilities, A Human Security Doctrine for Europe, 19.
27 Study Group on Europe’s Security Capabilities, A European Way of Security, 10.
28 Breaky et al., Enhancing Protection Capacity, pV.
29 Tardy, “The Dangerous Liaisons,” 427.
30 Statement by Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous.
31 UN Security Council Resolution 2149 (S/RES/2149).
32 UN Security Council Resolution 2155 (S/RES/2155).
33 Security Council Report, Adoption of Resolution on UN Mission in South Sudan.
34 UN, Draft DPKO/DFS Operational Concept.
35 UN, Implementing Guidelines for Military Components, 2.
36 Ibid., 10.
37 Ibid., 6.
38 Ibid., 11.
39 UN, Preface, 3.
40 UN, Module 6: Carana, New York, United Nations, 11.
41 UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, STM 6: Instructor Guidance Notes on the Scenario-based Exercises (SBE), New York, United Nations, 2011, 2.
42 Murdie and Davis, “Problematic Potential,” 58.
43 Ibid., 68.
44 Hultman, “Keeping Peace or Spurring Violence?” 30.
45 Ibid., 42.
46 Hultman, Kathman, Shannon, “United Nations Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection,” 888.
47 Ibid., 879–80.
48 Ibid., 888.
49 UN, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Principles and Guidelines, 18.
50 Ibid., 31–2.
51 Ibid., 34.
52 UN, Draft DPKO/DFS Operational Concept on the Protection of Civilians
53 International Crisis Group, South Sudan, 6-7.
54 UN News Centre, Ban, Security Council Welcome South Sudan Ceasefire.
55 Oakford, “UN Peacekeepers Overwhelmed in South Sudan.”
56 UN Department of Public Information, Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2132 (2013), Security Council Increases United Nations Mission’s Military Presence In South Sudan.
57 Inter-Press Service, U.N. Peacekeeping Goes on the Offensive.
58 UN Department of Public Information, United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
59 Gowan, “Diplomatic Fallout.”
60 Foreign Policy, Exclusive.
61 UN, Uniting Our Strengths for Peace, 30.
62 MINUSTAH: Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilization en Haïti (2004–); MONUSCO: Mission de l’Organisation des Nations unies pour la stabilization en République démocratique du Congo (2010–); MINUSMA: The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (2013–); MINUSCA: United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (2014–).
63 Coning, Do We Need a UN Stabilisation Doctrine?
64 Curran and Holtom, “Resonating, Rejecting, Reinterpreting,” 4.
65 Gowan, “Happy Birthday, UN.”
66 Ibid., UN.”
67 See, for instance statements to the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th Meeting of the 68th Session of the General Assembly Fourth Committee on the topic ‘Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects [item 53]’, 28th–30th October 2013.
68 UN, Letter dated 1 June 2014 from the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General (A/68/899–S/2014/384).
69 Statement by Ambassador Masood Khan, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations at the Security Council thematic debate on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict New York, (12 February, 2013).
70 Banerjee, Contributor Profile: India.
71 Curran, “The European Union and Pillar Three,” 150.
72 UN, Responsibility to Protect, 5.
73 Coleman, “The Political Economy of UN Peacekeeping,” 9.
74 International Peace Institute, Issue Brief.
75 UN News Centre, Senior UN Officials Highlight.
76 UN, Uniting our Strengths for Peace, 49.
77 UN Security Council, 6943rd meeting (S/PV.6943).
78 Cunliffe, Legions of Peace, 225.
79 Durch, “Supporting Peace,” 45.
80 Note that the reporting period here was 2010–13, and thus did not take into account attacks on UN bases in South Sudan.
81 UN Office of Internal Oversight Evaluation of the implementation and results of protection of civilians mandates, 7–8.
82 UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, “Annex I,” 26.
83 United Nations Office of Internal Oversight, Evaluation of the Implementation and Results, 13.
84 Ibid., 7.
85 Lynch, “Report.”
86 UN Security Council Resolution 1769 (S/RES/1769).
87 UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, Evaluation of the implementation and results of protection of civilians mandates, 7.
88 Ibid., 15.
89 Slim, “Violence and Humanitarianism,” 337.
90 Woodhouse and Ramsbotham, “Cosmopolitan Peacekeeping,” 141.
91 Held, “Cosmopolitanism, Democracy, and the Global Order,” 170.
92 Archibugi and Held, “Cosmopolitan Democracy,” 435.
93 See, for instance, Curran and Holtom, “Resonating, Rejecting, Reinterpreting,” which utilized a data set of 3,332 UN Security Council meeting records by uploading them to QDA data miner, where a Wordstat package was used to extract all instances in which ‘stabilisation’ or ‘stabilization’ featured in a UNSC meeting.
94 von Gienanth, Hansen, Köppe, Peace Operations 2025, 58.