World Politics and UN Peace Missions

Principal Investigator: Dr. Sara Hellmüller
Project Team: Dr. Fanny Badache, Bilal Salaymeh, Marie Holch, Zoia Suleiman, Margaux Pinaud, Chiara Lanfranchi, Maëlys Glück, Naji Osman, Laura Mauricio
Host institutions: Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich and Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding, Geneva Graduate Institute
Duration: 2020-2024
Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation (PRIMA and AGORA) and Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs

Project Description
Peace missions (peacekeeping operations, special political missions, and good offices engagements) are the main instrument of the United Nations (UN) to maintain international peace and security. However, the UN’s role in peace promotion is at a watershed, sadly illustrated by its failure to adequately address contemporary conflicts, such as in Ukraine, Syria, and Yemen. In the years immediately following the end of the Cold War, there was a consensus within the international community that peace missions needed to address the root causes of conflicts and thus have extensive mandates, including the rebuilding of a liberal state. In recent years, this consensus has waned and different approaches to addressing armed conflicts compete. This turning point can be understood as part of broader changes in world politics. The increasing influence of Russia and China, as well as regional rising powers, such as Brazil, India, and Turkey, have led to important global power shifts. The proposed project analyzes how this transition towards a multipolar world order influences UN peace missions.

In the framework of the project, we developed a dataset on UN peace mission mandates (UNPMM), which is currently the most comprehensive dataset on UN peace mission mandates covering 1948-2022. We also analyzed how key concepts, such as sovereignty and security have changed in member states’ speeches in the UN Security Council and conducted in-depth case studies of three peacekeeping operations (Mali, DR Congo, South Sudan) and three political missions (Syria, Libya, Yemen). Overall, the project seeks to develop a mid-level theory on how world politics influence UN peace missions and thereby contributes to International Relations theories and peace research. By providing a macro-perspective on UN peace missions, it ultimately helps to render them more effective in addressing contemporary conflicts.

The project also has an important science communication element. Based on its findings, the team organizes a roving pop-up exhibition on UN Peace Missions to be shown in four Swiss cities and created the UN Peace Missions App.

Associated links: Our dataset on UN peace missions is published