Economic and Social Research Council
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WHY SOME PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS

Deploying UN and NATO peacekeeping forces can exacerbate insecurity for civilians in some countries, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

The in-depth study into peacekeeping in Haiti, Kosovo and Liberia conducted by Drs Paul Higate and Marsha Henry of the University of Bristol showed why some peacekeeping operations are more successful than others and what role peacekeepers play in determining these outcomes.

For example, in Haiti, peacekeepers would carry out military operations in slums in the ‘red’ zones against gangs which have resulted in some civilian casualties. Research revealed that local civilians often feared these interventions, because they believed that they actually exacerbated insecurity. Concern was also expressed that these operations displaced violence into previously peaceful areas.

In Kosovo, peacekeepers often protected Serbians from revenge attacks carried out by members of the majority population by helping to secure ethnic enclaves. The study then revealed how this activity actually contributed to a hardening of ethnic divisions, thereby potentially increasing future problems for the province.

In contrast, peacekeepers in Liberia have effectively helped the country’s transition from a fourteen year civil war to peaceful democratic elections. “The operation in Liberia has been considerably more successful than either Haiti or Kosovo partly because of the ways in which peacekeepers responded to pre-existing conditions, such as poverty or insecurity, in the region emerging from conflict,” explained Dr Higate. For instance, efforts to bring stability to ‘zones’ in Haiti and ‘enclaves’ in Kosovo resulted in peacekeepers using military solutions to problem areas whose root causes were primarily poverty or unemployment. These intense activities made use of a substantial number of peacekeepers and so prevented them from providing more effective support to the rest of the country.

The researchers’ fieldwork in Haiti, Liberia and Kosovo also revealed how relatively small details influenced how secure local civilians felt. For example, perceptions of security increased with how disciplined peacekeepers appeared to be; their likelihood to intervene to stop violence; and the regularity with which they visited communities. “The national identity of peacekeepers also influenced how safe the local population felt,” said Dr Higate. “For example, some Liberians felt more secure with the ‘aggressive’ approach of Nigerian peacekeepers and the ‘well equipped and professional’ approaches of the Irish and Swedish. Bangledeshi peacekeepers, however, were seen to be better at providing a humanitarian service (e.g. road building) rather than a military one.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Dr Paul Higate on Tel: 0117 331 0848 (office); 07863 599 891 (mobile); e-mail: Paul.Higate@bristol.ac.uk 

ESRC Press Office:
Kelly Barnett on Tel: 01793 413032, e-mail: kelly.barnett@esrc.ac.uk 
Danielle Moore on Tel: 01793 413122; e-mail: danielle.moore@esrc.ac.uk 

NOTES FOR EDITORS:


1. The research project “Engendering Security in Peacekeeping Missions” was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council as part of the ESRC’s New Security Challenges Programme. The research was conducted by Dr Paul Higate and Dr Marsha Henry from the University of Bristol’s Department of Politics with the research assistance of Dr Gurchathen Sanghera, University of St. Andrew’s. More at: http://www.newsecurity.bham.ac.uk/ 

2. Methodology. This qualitative study used four methods of data collection: (1) 17 focus groups; (2) 287 face-to-face interviews with a diversity of stakeholders; (3) a series of informal interviews and (4) brief periods of participant observation with peacekeepers.

3. The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is the UK's largest funding agency for research and postgraduate training relating to social and economic issues. It supports independent, high quality research which impacts on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC’s planned total expenditure in 2008/09 is £203 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and research policy institutes. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk 

4. ESRC Society Today offers free access to a broad range of social science research and presents it in a way that makes it easy to navigate and saves users valuable time. As well as bringing together all ESRC-funded research and key online resources such as the Social Science Information Gateway and the UK Data Archive, non-ESRC resources are included, for example the Office for National Statistics. The portal provides access to early findings and research summaries, as well as full texts and original datasets through integrated search facilities. More at http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk 

5. The ESRC confirms the quality of its funded research by evaluating research projects through a process of peer review. This research has been graded as Good.




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