Can Soldiers Ever Be Used to Achieve Peace? Feminists Debate Military Intervention

Abstract

Can soldiers ever be used to achieve peace? Military operations aimed at achieving peace and security in areas of conflict are claimed to ‘make a vital contribution to reducing the frequency and lethality of war in our world’ (Bellamy and Williams 2010: 1). In the short term, they can save lives (Power 2002b: 73; also see Power 2002a; Fortna 2008). In the long term, particularly if they combine the right balance of enforcement measures and the winning of the trust of the local population, they are claimed to make a significant contribution to sustainable, stable peace (Elliot and Cheeseman 2004; Woodhouse and Ramsbotham 2005; Fortna 2008; Beebe and Kaldor 2010; Bellamy and Williams 2010: 3).