United Nations Peacekeeping and the Politics of Authoritarianism

What impact does UN peacekeeping have on the politics of authoritarianism in host countries? This book advances a theoretically innovative and empirically rich answer to this question: while the UN does not intentionally promote authoritarianism, it faces a number of constraints and dilemmas that give rise to what we call authoritarian enabling. Enabling can occur through two mechanisms, capacity building and the creation of a permissive environment, which enhance the ability of host governments to engage in authoritarian behavior and signal to them that doing so is low-cost.

This book illustrates these two mechanisms with four in-depth case studies of UN peacekeeping operations: UNTAC in Cambodia, MONUC/MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MINUSTAH in Haiti, and UNMIL in Liberia. The analysis is based on primary interview data from over 200 interviews. The authors explore the sources of enabling, identifying the trade-offs and contradictions that give rise to these two mechanisms. They include respect for sovereignty, the importance of working relations with the host government, the tension between democracy and other mission goals, the pressure to demonstrate quick results, and divergences within missions and the broader international community. While enabling stops short of the outright promotion of authoritarianism, it explains why the UN’s activities often appear to contradict its stated objectives and the outcomes it delivers fall short of its goals. In addition to its theoretical and empirical contributions, the book suggests how these dilemmas and challenges can be overcome.

Sarah von Billerbeck, Professor of International Relations, University of Reading, Birte Julia Gippert, Senior Lecturer, University of Liverpool, Kseniya Oksamytna, Senior Lecturer, University of London, Oisín Tansey, Professor of International Politics, King’s College London

Dr Sarah von Billerbeck is Professor of International Relations at the University of Reading, UK. She holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and previously worked at King’s College London and has held visiting positions at the University of Oxford and the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her research focuses on post-conflict peacekeeping, the UN, international organizations, and legitimacy. She is the author of Whose Peace? Local Ownership and United Nations Peacekeeping (OUP, 2016). She sits on the Editorial Board of International Peacekeeping.

Dr Birte Julia Gippert is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool. She previously held post-doc positions in the War Studies Department at King’s College London and in the Institute of Political Science at the University of Tübingen. Prior to that, Dr Gippert worked as a researcher for the Kosovo Stability Initiative in Pristina, Kosovo. She holds a PhD from the University of Reading. Dr Gippert’s research focuses on global governance in peace and security, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and legitimacy and (de)legitimation of International Organisations. She is the author of Local Legitimacy in Peacebuilding: Pathways to Compliance with International Police Reform (Routledge, 2017).

Dr Kseniya Oksamytna is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at City, University of London. Prior to that, she was a postdoctoral researcher in the War Studies Department at King’s College London. She holds a PhD from LUISS and the University of Geneva. Dr Oksamytna’s research interests are international organizations (in particular, decision-making, resourcing, and inequalities in international bureaucracies), international security, and peace operations. Dr Oksamytna sits on the Editorial Board of ＂International Peacekeeping＂.

Dr Oisín Tansey is a Professor of International Politics at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and previously worked at the University of Reading. His research focuses on post-conflict peacekeeping and the international politics of authoritarian rule. He is the author of The International Politics of Authoritarian Rule (OUP, 2016) and Regime-Building: Democratization and International Administration (OUP, 2009).