CIAO DATE: 05/2009
April 2009
Center on International Cooperation
Drawing from the insights of an international policy debate on peacekeeping overstretch co-organized by Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Richard Gowan identifies major stresses of the UN and non-UN peacekeeping system. Analyzing the biggest UN (DR Congo) and NATO (Afghanistan) peace operations, he blames "risk transferral" and mistrust as key obstacles, driving political divergences and operational mismanagement. He proposes five policy options for greater transparency and trust, allowing better peacekeeping strategies, including a heads-of-government conference to foster strategic discussion.
Resource link: The Future of Peacekeeping Operations: Fighting Political Fatigue and Overstretch [PDF] - 914K