PRAESENZ (PRESENCE): UN Peace Operations: Actors, Structures and Current Challenge - Einzelansicht

Peace operations are a central tool in the United Nations (UN) pursuit of international peace and security. After its origin in the 1950s with a focus on interstate conflicts and a period of limited activity during the Cold War period peace operations nowadays operate in many different settings and take on various forms. They are engaged in the prevention and management of international conflicts as well as post-conflict reconstruction. Since the 1990s they are more involved in intrastate conflicts in which state and non-state actors are involved. Throughout its history, the UN’s peace operations have been regarded as successes (e.g., Cambodia, El Salvador, Mozambique, and Namibia) and failures (e.g., Somalia, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia) alike which is why an almost constant reform process was started. Despite various conceptual as well as practical improvements the missions still face many challenges like the increasing complexity of conflict scenarios, the limited political will of UN members states to engage in conflict management as well as cumbersome planning processes, and misconduct by peacekeeping personnel.

Against this background, the IOCM Summer School 2022 (July 21 - 29) aims at taking stock of UN peace operations by reviewing its historical development, pathbreaking documents like the UN Charter, Capstone Doctrine, and relevant reports. Furthermore, it will discuss the role of major political decision-making bodies and actors like the UN Security Council and Secretary-General, as well as relevant member states (e.g., P5, TCCs). It finally addresses current challenges to peace operations like the erosion of fundamental principles, artificial intelligence, and climate change.

All this will be the preparation for a 2-day simulation of the UN Security Council, in which the deployment of a UN peace operation has to be negotiated by the participants.

• de Coning Cedric/Mateja, Peter (Hrsg.) (2019): United Nations Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.
• Diehl, Paul F/Balas, Alexandru (2014): Peace Operations, 2. Aufl., Polity: New York.
• Doyle, Michael W./Sambanis, Nicholas (2006): Making War & Building Peace. United Nations Peace Operations, Princeton University Press: Princeton and Oxford.
• Karlsrud, John (2018): The UN at War. Peace Operations in a New Era, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke.
• Williams, Paul D./Bellamy, Alex J. (2021): Understanding Peacekeeping, 3rd Edition, Wiley: Hoboken.

The Summer School will be characterized by active work. Participants still have to read texts in preparation and in the evenings but also group works, research activities, presentations, and discussions on the various topics will be part of the course. Further external experts from thinks tanks, public administration, and research will share their insights with us.

The daily working time will be from 9 am to 5 pm.

The performance during the summer school will be assessed via a portfolio of smaller contributions (e.g. statements, presentations, and text summaries). The exact composition of the portfolio will be announced at the beginning of the course.

IOCM Students