Taking sides in peacekeeping : impartiality and the future of the United Nations /

Taking sides in peacekeeping : impartiality and the future of the United Nations /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Rhoads, Emily Paddon, author.
Edition:	First edition.
Imprint:	Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2016.
Description:	xii, 250 pages : map ; 24 cm
Language:	English
Subject:	United Nations -- Peacekeeping forces. United Nations. World politics Peacekeeping forces.
Format:	Map Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10785888

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9780198747246 0198747241
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:	United Nations peacekeeping has undergone radical transformation in the new millennium. 'Taking Sides in Peacekeeping' explores this transformation and its implications, in what is the first conceptual and empirical study of impartiality in UN peacekeeping. The book challenges dominant scholarly approaches that conceive of norms as linear and static, conceptualizing impartiality as a 'composite' norm, one that is not free-standing but an aggregate of other principles-each of which can change and is open to contestation. Drawing on a large body of primary evidence, it uses the composite norm to trace the evolution of impartiality, and to illuminate the macro-level politics surrounding its institutionalization at the UN, as well as the micro-level politics surrounding its implementation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of the largest and costliest peacekeeping mission in UN history. This book reveals that, despite a veneer of consensus, impartiality is in fact highly contested. As the collection of principles it refers to has expanded to include human rights and civilian protection, deep disagreements have arisen over what keeping peace impartially actually means. Beyond the semantics, the book shows how this contestation, together with the varying expectations and incentives created by the norm, has resulted in perverse and unintended consequences that have politicized peacekeeping and, in some cases, effectively converted UN forces into one warring party among many. The author assesses the implications of this radical transformation for the future of peacekeeping and for the UN's role as guarantor of international peace and security.

Description
Summary:	United Nations peacekeeping constitutes the second largest military deployment around the world, and the organization's flagship enterprise. Once responsible simply for the job of observing frontiers and monitoring ceasefire agreements, UN missions are now frequently charged with the far more daunting task of 'robust' intervention- penalizing spoilers of peace and protecting civilians from peril. Taking Sides in Peacekeeping explores this transformationand its implications through the first comprehensive conceptual and empirical study of impartiality, a norm long considered to be the bedrock of UN peacekeeping. It reveals how a change in the dominantunderstanding of impartiality has politicized peacekeeping and, in some cases, effectively converted UN forces into one warring party among many. The book incorporates a large body of primary evidence and draws on extensive fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, site of the biggest and costliest mission in UN history (1999-2015).
Physical Description:	xii, 250 pages : map ; 24 cm
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:	9780198747246 0198747241