ANALYSIS: UN peacekeeping in Africa needs tighter parameters

Peacekeeping is one of the United Nations most important conflict management tools, but policymakers, host countries and experts agree that it is in crisis. This year has seen a rise in contentious, if not hostile, relationships with African host governments and, to some extent, with urban populations.

Globally, peacekeeping operations are deployed in increasingly complex political and security situations, making operational success difficult and strategic goals hard to define. UN missions were originally set up to monitor ceasefires and compliance with peace agreements between two warring parties. Contemporary missions have morphed into stabilisation operations aimed at enforcing peace and addressing the root causes of crises.

The UN’s 2015 Report of the Independent High-level Panel on Peace Operations rightfully emphasises the primacy of politics in peacekeeping. But are UN missions properly equipped to handle the political challenges they face in host countries? On the ground, most missions seem reluctant to engage in the politics of managing relationships with host governments and populations.

One of the most challenging aspects of multidimensional stabilisation missions is assessing their goals and effectiveness. There is wide acknowledgement that stabilising societies undergoing or exiting violent conflict is complex. Recent failures in Iraq and Afghanistan should caution the UN against broad peacekeeping mandates and heavy operations.

Inspiration can be drawn from the Powell Doctrine designed by the United States in the 1980s following the Vietnam War. The approach identified criteria to guide US military deployment, including vital interest, full intention to win, adequacy of the force with the objectives pursued, support of the opinion and by Congress, and military intervention as a last resort.

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