Moving Forward: UN Robust Peacekeeping and Civilian Protection in Civil Wars

Abstract

This book has argued that robust peacekeeping works better than traditional peacekeeping in protecting civilians from killings, because by its designation, it constitutes a formidable barrier to human rights violations. The formidable barrier model posits that the success of UN peacekeeping missions in staving off deliberate civilian killings is a function of their deterrent capacity. Therefore, such missions’ success is a direct function of their ability to constrain combatants’ violent behavior, resulting in a cost-benefit calculation by the combatants that leads to the choice of peace over continued fighting and civilian killings. In this sense, the mission’s capacity to raise the cost of continued fighting by combatants is dependent on the superiority of its capabilities over those of the combatants. A stronger mission force in terms of large force size, stronger firepower reflected in its robust rules of engagement, and stronger combative and repulsive capacities may alter the calculations of combatants and spoilers to choosing peace over continued fighting and killing of civilians. Robust peacekeeping, by designation, has the ability to manipulate the relative costs of continued fighting and civilian killings and the benefits of peace to have more preferable effects. Robust peacekeeping missions, characterized by greater force strength, use of heavy weapons, major power participation, rules of engagement to use “necessary means” to protect civilians as well as for self-defense, and a high cost-tolerance level can put up the necessary barrier or impediment to intentional civilian killings by combatants and spoilers. The underlying strategy of robust peacekeeping is to alter the parties’ calculations so as to make it too costly to fight and more beneficial to choose peace.