![Sample our Politics & International Relations journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5947/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Politics-International-Relations.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
Recent research on post-conflict environments prioritizes more creative understandings of peace operations, leading researchers to dig deeper into the micro-foundations of peacebuilding and peacekeeping. Though some of this research highlights the role of emotions, there are several complexifying factors that interact with emotion – including chronic stress arousal, trauma, increased stress loads, stress and emotion contagion, and decreased self-regulatory capacity – that remain dramatically undertheorized in this new wave of research. Given that peacekeeping operations are an environment in which these factors are likely to be at their most salient, it is essential that we understand where and how they interact with those operations. This article seeks to address this oversight. It begins by integrating recent psychological and neuroscientific arguments about individuals’ neurobiological windows of tolerance, exploring how the conflict cycle can lead to post-conflict effects on individuals’ thoughts, emotions, decision-making, and behaviour. It then explores the implications of those lessons for two dimensions of peacekeeping environments, offering insight into peacekeepers’ dysregulation as well as structurally and socially embedded dysregulation within the host population. Most importantly, it offers recommendations for how to resolve the effects of stress and trauma in peacekeeping environments, and thus provide the healing needed for effective peacekeeping.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Autesserre, “Going Micro.”
2 Mironova and Whitt, “Social Norms.”
3 Suzuki, Stefanovic, and Loizides, “Displacement and the Expectation.”
4 Carey, González, and Gläßel. “Divergent Perceptions.”
5 Higate and Henry, “Engendering (In)Security.”
6 Bove and Ruggeri, “Peacekeeping Effectiveness.”
7 Dworschak and Cil, “Force Structure.”
8 Hughes, “Becoming Emotional”; Heifetz-Yahav, “Non-Mediated Peacekeeping.”
9 Heifetz-Yahav, “Non-Mediated Peacekeeping,” 114.
10 Hughes, “Becoming Emotional,” 205.
11 Travouillon, “Emotions and Post-Liberal,” 51.
12 Baele, Sterck, and Meur, “Theorizing and Measuring”; Halperin, Sharvit, and Gross, “Emotion and Emotion Regulation.”
13 Halperin et al., “Anger, Hatred.”
14 Ibid.
15 Fisk, Merolla, and Ramos, “Emotions, Terrorist Threat.”
16 Rosler, Cohen-Chen, and Halperin, “Distinct Effects.”
17 Gur, Ayal, and Halperin, “Bright Side.”
18 Halperin and Schwarz, “Emotions in Conflict Resolution”; Čehajić-Clancy et al., “Social-Psychological Interventions.”
19 Moeschberger et al., “Forgiveness in Northern Ireland”; Čehajić, Brown, and Castano, “Forgive and Forget?”
20 Baele, Sterck, and Meur, “Theorizing and Measuring,” 739.
21 Hofmann, Schmeichel, and Baddeley, “Executive Functions”; Heatherton and Wagner, “Cognitive Neuroscience.”
22 Travouillon, “Emotions and Post-Liberal.”
23 Karstedt, “Emotion Dynamics.”
24 Hoppen et al., “Global Burden.”
25 Fortna, “Does Peacekeeping.”
26 Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow.
27 Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow; Kahneman, “Perspective on Judgment”; Stanovich and West, “Individual Differences.”
28 Porges, Polyvagal Theory; Stanley, Widen the Window.
29 Stanovich and West, “Individual Differences.”
30 Stanley, Widen the Window; Ogden, Minton, and Pain, Trauma and the Body; Siegel, The Developing Mind.
31 Stanley, “War Duration”; Stanley, Widen the Window.
32 Porges, Polyvagal Theory; Stanley, Widen the Window.
33 Stanley and Larsen, “Stressed Out”; Larsen and Stanley, “Leaders’ Windows.”
34 Stanley, Widen the Window.
35 Stanley, Widen the Window.
36 Stanley, Widen the Window; Scaer, Trauma Spectrum; Odgen et al., Trauma; Bremner, Does Stress Damage; Levine, Waking the Tiger; McEwen and Lasley, End of Stress; van der Kolk et al., “Disorders of Extreme Stress.”
37 Stanley, Widen the Window.
38 Stanley, Widen the Window; Scaer, Trauma Spectrum; Ogden, Minton, and Pain, Trauma and the Body; Sapolsky, Why Don’t Zebras.
39 Scaer, Trauma Spectrum, 215.
40 For example: Jha et al., “Practice is Protective”; Jha et al., “Examining the Protective Effects”; Lieberman et al., “Severe Decrements”; Marx et al., “Influence of Pre-Deployment”; Morgan et al., “Stress-Induced Deficits”; Stanley et al., “Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness.”
41 Musisi and Kinyanda, “Long-Term Impact”; Miller and Rasmussen, “Mental Health.”
42 Stanley, “War Duration.”
43 Bar-Joseph and McDermott, “Personal Functioning.”
44 Renshon, Lee, and Tingley, “Emotions and the Micro-Foundations.”
45 Baumeister et al., “Bad is Stronger”; Clore, Schwarz, and Conway, “Affective Causes”; Leith and Baumeister, “Why Do Bad Moods.”
46 Stanley, “War Duration”; Stanley, Widen the Window.
47 Baumeister et al., “Bad is Stronger”; Rozin and Royzman, “Negativity Bias.”
48 Bar-Tal, “Why Does Fear”; Cohen-Chen et al., “Differential Effects.”
49 Kirschner, Trust and Fear, 19.
50 Baumeister et al., “Bad is Stronger”; Rozin and Royzman, “Negativity Bias.”
51 Bar-Tal et al., “Ethos of Conflict”; Bar-Tal, “Sociopsychological Foundations”; Gayer et al., “Overcoming Psychological Barriers”; Halperin and Pliskin, “Emotions and Emotion Regulation”; Porat, Halperin, and Bar-Tal, “Effect of Sociopsychological Barriers.”
52 Halperin and Pliskin, “Emotions and Emotion Regulation,” 119.
53 Colaresi, Scare Tactics; Stanley, Paths to Peace; Stanley, “War Duration”; Stanley and Sawyer, “Equifinality of War Termination.”
54 Gayer et al., “Overcoming Psychological Barriers”; Porat, Halperin, and Bar-Tal, “Effect of Sociopsychological Barriers.”
55 Colaresi, Scare Tactics; Snyder, Myths of Empire; Stanley, Paths to Peace; Stanley, “War Duration.”
56 Halperin and Pliskin, “Emotions and Emotion Regulation”; Ogden, Minton, and Pain, Trauma and the Body; Stanley, Widen the Window.
57 Bono and Ilies, “Charisma, Positive Emotions”; Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson, Emotional Contagion; Neumann and Strack, “Mood Contagion.”
58 Neumann and Strack, “Mood Contagion.”
59 Thoresen and Mehlum, “Risk Factors”; Thoresen and Mehlum, “Traumatic Stress.”
60 Lindberg Bromley, “Introducing the UCDP.” Sareen et al., “Is Peacekeeping Peaceful?”; Brown et al., “Mental Health.”
61 Bartone, Adler, and Vaitkus, “Dimensions of Psychological Stress”; Wallenius, Johansson, and Larsson, “Reactions and Performance.”
62 Rubinstein, Keller, and Scherger, “Culture and Interoperability”; Duffey, “Cultural Issues.”
63 Castro et al., Soldier Dimensions.
64 Podder and Roy, “Use of Force.”
65 Ruffa, “What Peacekeepers Think.”
66 Podder and Roy, “Use of Force.”
67 Lamerson and Kelloway, “Towards a Model.”
68 Nikolova, Aleksiev, and Vukov, “Psychophysiological assessment.”
69 Smith et al., “Lacking Power.”
70 Hotopf et al., “Health Effects.”
71 Wallenius, Johansson, and Larsson, “Reactions and Performance.”
72 Di Salvatore et al., “Peacekeeping Mandates.”
73 Reed and Segal, “Impact of Multiple.”
74 Ballone et al., “Factors Influencing.”
75 Bartone, Adler, and Vaitkus, “Dimensions of Psychological Stress”; Kodama, Nomura, and Ogasawara, “Psychological Changes.”
76 Sareen et al., “Is Peacekeeping Peaceful?”
77 Orsillo et al., “Psychiatric Symptomatology.”
78 Britt, “Stigma of Psychological Problems.”
79 Orsillo et al., “Psychiatric Symptomatology.”
80 Hawthorne, Korn, and Creamer, Australian Peacekeepers; Sikharulidze et al., “Postraumatic Stress”; Cyr et al., “Somatic Symptoms.”
81 Ray, “Contemporary Treatments.”
82 Hawthorne, Korn, and Creamer, Australian Peacekeepers.
83 Mehlum, “Alcohol and Stress.”
84 Yarvis et al., “Subthreshold PTSD.”
85 Maguen et al., “PTSD subclusters.”
86 Vegič, “Effects of Previous.”
87 Vegič, “Effects of Previous”; Miller and Moskos, “Humanitarians or Warriors?”
88 Reed and Segal, “Impact of Multiple.”
89 Di Razza, Mental Health.
90 Hall, Cipriano, and Bicknell, “Preventive Mental Health.”
91 Henry, “Parades, Parties and Pests,” 382.
92 Di Razza, Mental Health.
93 Winslow, Canadian Airborne Regiment.
94 Olsson et al., “Peacekeeping Prevention.”
95 Donnelly, Mazurana, and Papworth, Blue on Blue.
96 United Nations, A Comprehensive Strategy.
97 Vitzthum et al., “Psychotrauma and Effective Treatment”; Ray, “Contemporary Treatments.”
98 Adler et al., “Group Randomized Trial.”
99 Deahl et al., “Preventing Psychological Trauma.”
100 Zimmerman et al., “Long-term Course.”
101 Rademaker, Vermetten, and Kleber, “Multimodal Exposure-Based.”
102 For a review, see Sareen et al., “Is Peacekeeping Peaceful?”
103 Lieberman et al., “Severe Decrements.”
104 Adler et al., “Group Randomized Trial.”
105 Rademaker, Vermetten, and Kleber, “Multimodal Exposure-Based.”
106 Zimmerman et al., “Long-term Course.”
107 Ray, “Contemporary Treatments,” 120–1.
108 Jha et al., “Comparing Mindfulness.”
109 van den Hout and Engelhard, “How does EDMR work?”
110 Berking, Meier, and Wupperman, “Emotion-Regulation Skills”; Christopher et al., “Mindfulness-based Resilience Training”; Colgan et al., “Mindful Nonreactivity.”
111 Haase et al, “Mindfulness-Based Training”; Johnson et al., “Modifying Resilience Mechanisms,” Jha et al., “Examining the Protective Effects,” Jha et al., “Comparing Mindfulness.”
112 Colgan et al., “Mindful Nonreactivity.”
113 Stanley, Widen the Window
114 For example, see: Lindert and Lamott, “Exposure to Violence”; Dimitry, “A Systematic Review”; Vinck and Pham, “Association of Exposure”; Sharma et al., “Measurement of War-related.”
115 Miller and Rasmussen, “Mental Health.”
116 Hultman, Kathman, and Shannon, “United Nations Peacekeeping.”
117 Bara, Deglow, and van Baalen, “Civil War.”
118 Di Salvatore, “Peacekeepers against Criminal Violence.”
119 Fjelde, Hultman, and Nilsson, “Protection through Presence.”
120 Bara, “Shifting Targets.”
121 Hughes and Pupavac, “Framing Post-Conflict Societies.”
122 Podder, “Recruitment to Reintegration.”
123 Feldman and Vengrober, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder”; Mulligan et al., “Methylation Changes.”
124 e.g., Dimitry, “A Systematic Review”; Hoppen et al., “Global Burden.”
125 Bosnar et al., “Suicide Rate”; Ovuga, Boardman, and Wassermann, “Prevalence of Suicide.”
126 Lo et al., “A Systematic Review”; Branas et al., “An Exploration of Violence.”
127 Carey, González, and Gläßel, “Divergent Perceptions,” 1591.
128 Mironova and Whitt, “Conflict and Parochialism.”
129 Blattman, “From Violence to Voting”; Conzo and Salustri, “War is Forever”; Freitag, Kijewkski, and Oppold, “War Experiences.”
130 Hong and Kang, “Trauma and stigma.”
131 Eytan et al., “Determinants of Postconflict Symptoms”; Eytan et al “Posttraumatic Stress”; Toscani et al., “Health Status.”
132 Toscani et al., “Hepalth Status.”
133 Blattman, “From Violence to Voting”; Freitag, Kijewski, and Oppold, “War Experiences.”
134 Gilligan, Pasquale, and Samii, “Civil War and Social Cohesion.”
135 Berens and Dallendörfer, “Apathy or anger?”
136 Blattman and Annan, “Can Employment.”
137 Gready, “Case for Transformative.”
138 Gray and Strasheim, “Security Sector.”
139 Yim, Lorenz, and Salkovskis, “Effectiveness and Feasibility.”
140 Blattman and Annan, “Can Employment.”
141 Neuner et al., “Comparison of Narrative Exposure.”
142 Horne, “Personal Narratives.”
143 Miller and Rasmussen, “War Exposure”; Wang et al., “Novel Bio-Psycho-Social.”
144 Leitch, Vanslyke, and Allen, “Somatic Experiencing”; Leitch, “Somatic Experiencing.”
145 Wang et al., “Novel Bio-Psycho-Social”; Köbach and Robjant, “NETfacts.”
146 Honwana, “Healing for Peace.”
147 Hughes, “Becoming Emotional.”
148 Medie, “Rape Reporting.”
149 Goldsmith and Harris, “Trust, Trustworthiness.”
150 Curtis, “Broadcasting Peace.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kelsey L. Larsen
Kelsey L. Larsen, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of security studies in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida. She conducts research on stress, emotions, and decision-making in security environments.
Elizabeth A. Stanley
Elizabeth A. Stanley, Ph.D., is a professor of security studies at Georgetown University. Earlier in her career, she served as a U.S. Army intelligence officer in Asia and Europe, including as part of UN and NATO peacekeeping deployments to the Balkans.