Peacekeeping

While recurrent armed conflicts, expanded extremist networks, and record levels of displacement remain defining features of global security, standard peacemaking methods continue to overlook a proven strategy to reduce conflict and advance stability: the inclusion of women.

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In an op-ed recently published in Foreign Policy, I write about the legacy of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the United Nations. Kofi Annan, who died last weekend, was arguably the most consequential United Nations secretary-general since the second, Dag Hammarskjold, who served in the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike the dashing Swedish diplomat, Annan was an organization man, the first to rise through the UN’s own ranks to its highest position. And yet he used his knowledge of the UN system, and his dignity, to good effect, becoming an eloquent advocate for a flawed organization and embodying the conscience of what some hopefully call “the international community.” His tragedy was to occupy his post during the greatest crisis in the troubled history of U.S.-UN relations—namely, the run-up to the Iraq War and its turbulent aftermath. Although his tenure ended in disappointment, he will be remembered for his defense of humanitarian intervention, his advocacy for UN peacekeeping, and his insight that security, development, and human rights are inseparable. Annan was the first UN secretary-general from sub-Saharan Africa. He was plucked from relative obscurity by the Clinton administration, which was determined to deny a second term to Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an acerbic and imperious Egyptian who had alienated Clinton administration officials, not least Madeleine Albright, then the U.S. ambassador to the UN. But Annan’s selection was not without controversy. As a senior official in the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations, he had been involved in the decision not to reinforce the beleaguered UN mission in Rwanda in 1994, with catastrophic results. Annan would learn from that searing experience, as well as from genocides in the former Yugoslavia. Appointed to his first term in January 1997, Annan helped pioneer a principle that would become known as “the responsibility to protect,” or R2P. Read the full op-ed originally published in Foreign Policy.

The U.S. military is currently at war with itself, and a casualty may be a valuable Army institution that protects not only U.S. interests, but also the lives of U.S. service members.

How can the details of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) shed light on the major questions about peace enforcement missions and the international partnerships that underpin them? 

The highly credible Stockholm International Peace Research institute (SIPRI) has identified sixty-three multilateral peacekeeping operations throughout the world. Africa hosts the largest number, with twenty-five missions. For perspective, there were eighteen in Europe, nine in the Middle East, six in Asia, and five in the Western Hemisphere. African peacekeeping missions accounted for some 75 percent of all peacekeeping personnel, with African countries accounting for the majority of those troops. Either immediately or over time, almost all peacekeeping missions involve the UN Security Council. Furthermore, over 60 percent of all Security Council resolutions, beyond just peacekeeping, concerned Africa at one point. The predominance of African peacekeeping operations and Africa in general is a central argument among those who advocate for a permanent African seat on the Security Council. At present, the permanent members of the Security Council are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, a roster that has not changed since the end of World War II. The “Permanent Five” each have the power to veto proposed Security Council actions. The other ten seats are allocated among regional blocs but without veto power. The African bloc is the largest and currently comprises Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, and Equatorial Guinea, but South Africa will replace Ethiopia in 2019.   It is fair to say that among politically aware Africans, support for a permanent African seat on the Security Council is nearly universal, as is, though to a lesser extent, support for the abolition of the veto as a step toward a reformed UN Security Council. However, Africans are by no means in agreement as to which African country should hold a permanent African seat. The two largest African economies, Nigeria and South Africa, are the leading contenders for the seat. But, were there to be a real prospect for an African permanent seat, other rivals would likely emerge. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s apparent expression of support for an African permanent seat produced some African excitement. From time to time, other political figures from the Permanent Five have paid lip service to a Security Council reform agenda that could include a permanent African seat. However, in general, the Permanent Five appear to be dead set against the diminution of their power within the UN system that would almost certainly result from Security Council reform.  

Announcements of overlapping, temporary cease-fires by the Afghan government, U.S.-led NATO forces, and the Taliban are hopeful signs that there is still room to move toward a political dialogue to end the conflict. 

Trudeau’s pledged UN peacekeeping contributions are an important step toward fulfilling his foreign policy promises, but if he is serious about renewing Canada’s leadership in peacekeeping, it is not enough.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering March 23 to March 30, was compiled with support from Anne Connell and Rebecca Hughes.

In twenty-three rounds of Afghanistan-Taliban peace talks, women were at the table just twice. They need formal roles in any new talks to protect their own progress.

Welcome to “Women Around the World: This Week,” a series that highlights noteworthy news related to women and U.S. foreign policy. This week’s post, covering January 22 to February 6, was compiled with support from Becky Allen, Alexandra Bro, and Anne Connell.

Seventeen years after the passage of the first United Nations Security Council resolution to acknowledge that women’s participation in conflict prevention and resolution and their protection from violence advance global security, progress is uneven. New research from the Council on Foreign Relations finds that women still represent fewer than 5 percent of signatories to peace agreements and 8 percent of negotiators, and only 3 percent of UN military peacekeepers and 10 percent of UN police personnel are women. Here are some of the latest efforts to increase women’s participation in peace and security and improve their protection.

This week marks the seventeen-year anniversary of the adoption of the landmark UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The international agreement acknowledges the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women and girls and affirms the importance of women in conflict prevention, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and post-conflict reconstruction. To date, sixty-nine states have launched National Action Plans to implement the resolution. Learn more about women’s contributions to conflict prevention and resolution in these publications from the Women and Foreign Policy program.