This dissertation explores the United Nations' comprehensive approach to managing the Israel-Arab Conflict from 1967 to 1982, presenting a shift from examining peace operations as isolated efforts... Show moreThis dissertation explores the United Nations' comprehensive approach to managing the Israel-Arab Conflict from 1967 to 1982, presenting a shift from examining peace operations as isolated efforts to viewing them as interconnected elements of a broader peace architecture. It introduces a critical analysis of the roles played by the Office of Special Political Affairs and the Office of Chief Coordinator of Peacekeeping in the Middle East, arguing that these entities were pivotal in forming a cohesive strategy despite the static mandates of individual peace missions. The research spans six chapters, starting with a historical overview of the UN’s peacekeeping framework since 1948, setting the groundwork for understanding the conflict and the evolution of peacekeeping entities. It then delves into Inter-Operation Collaboration (IOC) and the Secretariat’s political maneuvering, highlighting the impact of significant events like the Camp David Accords and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. These events marked a shift in focus from state-centric to Israeli-Palestinian issues, challenging the UN’s influence. The conclusion assesses the UN’s role in shaping the diplomatic and security landscape of the region, underlining the organization's contributions and limitations in fostering peace and stability amidst a complex geopolitical scenario. This research offers valuable insights into the dynamics of UN peacekeeping operations in regional conflicts. Show less
In the early 1990s, the United Nations achieved in Cambodia an outcome that has been promoted as an important and rare peacekeeping success. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia ... Show moreIn the early 1990s, the United Nations achieved in Cambodia an outcome that has been promoted as an important and rare peacekeeping success. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was a key experiment in the laboratory of post-Cold War peacekeeping. Although UNTAC was confronted with one major spoiler party, the Khmer Rouge, the mission’s leadership supposedly resisted venturing into peace enforcement and succeeded in achieving the mission’s end goal of holding democratic elections in May 1993. However, UNTAC’s outcome has been all too readily interpreted in the light of the peacekeeping failures in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia. Using newly declassified documents, this study breaks with the traditional narrative that ascribes the causes for “success” in Cambodia to a strict adherence to the traditional peacekeeping principles. It reveals that under the imperative of turning the mission into a success, and paradoxically, saving the credibility of UN peacekeeping itself, UNTAC eventually violated the core principle of impartiality by forging an alliance with the government faction against the Khmer Rouge. The historical analysis thereby demonstrates that the theoretical and legalistic distinction between peacekeeping and peace enforcement has long distorted a thorough understanding of the true challenges in UN peacekeeping operations. Show less
The thesis deals with the question as to whether international organisations could be jointly responsible for violations of international law committed by peacekeepers deployed in a peacekeeping... Show moreThe thesis deals with the question as to whether international organisations could be jointly responsible for violations of international law committed by peacekeepers deployed in a peacekeeping operation. The study starts by exploring the development of the concept of peacekeeping operations and the relations between the UN and four specific regional organisations (NATO, EU, AU and ECOWAS) on the basis of the applicable dispositions of the UN Charter. This examination as well as the following analysis of relations among these organisations, illustrate the evolution of a division of labour and an increase of cooperation between the UN and these organisations. It justifies the formulation of a presumption that international organisations could be jointly responsible as well as the formulation of a new criterion of attribution (normative control). The case-studies of specific peacekeeping operations confirm that in certain circumstances the UN and regional organisations have to be considered jointly responsible. Show less
