The Global Implication: Japan’s Peace Operations in South Sudan

All-Japan Approach to International Peace Operations

Journal of International Peacekeeping ◽

10.1163/18754112-1804006 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 18 (3-4) ◽

pp. 214-235 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yuji Uesugi

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Local Community ◽

South Sudan ◽

Peace Operations ◽

Unique Contribution ◽

International Peace ◽

Field Level ◽

Timor Leste ◽

Policy Level ◽

Strategic Policy

This article discusses the development and features of the All-Japan approach that can be restated as integrated inter-agency/civil-military coordination, which has been placed in Japan’s policy for international peace cooperation (ipc), and has a potential to constitute Japan’s unique contribution to international peace operations. The article provides an overview of Japan’s recent involvement in international peace operations such as in Timor-Leste, Iraq, Haiti and South Sudan, paying special attention to inter-agency/civil-military nexus in each operation both at the strategic/policy level and the operational/field level. It argues that the All-Japan approach can offer a framework for better coordination among Japanese actors on the ground, and thus it can make Japan’s contribution more ‘visible’ to the local community and populations concerned. At the same time, it also seeks to present a warning that such an approach may infringe on the unity of the mission, especially if it is a un peacekeeping operation, and disturb the coherence of multilateral efforts on the ground. Furthermore, the All-Japan approach can jeopardize genuine decision-making of Japanese actors on the ground because of the unspoken pressure from their government to formulate All-Japan activities. In short, the All-Japan approach may become an end itself rather than a means.

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Peace Operations

The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198803164.013.23 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 419-445

Author(s):

Richard Gowan

Keyword(s):

Democratic Republic ◽

Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽

South Sudan ◽

Peace Operations ◽

Republic Of Congo ◽

Military Action ◽

Sustainable Peace ◽

Un Peacekeeping ◽

Peacekeeping Forces ◽

Uncertain Future

UN peace operations face an uncertain future. Peacekeeping deployments have been through cycles of expansion and contraction since the 1950s. Over the last two decades, the UN has been heavily engaged in a series of sizeable operations, primarily in Africa. Peacekeepers have struggled to engender sustainable peace in cases such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. This reflects organizational weaknesses in the UN peacekeeping system, questions over the limits of military action by peacekeeping forces in volatile environments, and tensions with the fragile governments that the UN is mandated to support. There is a new emphasis on lighter political missions as an alternative to large blue helmet forces. But history shows that the evolution of peace operations is rarely linear or predictable.

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China in UN Peacekeeping Operations: A 30-Year Assessment (1990-2019)

Contexto Internacional ◽

10.1590/s0102-8529.2019430200008 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

pp. 405-426

Author(s):

Renan Holanda Montenegro

Keyword(s):

21St Century ◽

South Sudan ◽

Peace Operations ◽

Descriptive Data ◽

Peacekeeping Operations ◽

The Past ◽

Un Peacekeeping ◽

Original Dataset

Abstract This article presents a broad assessment of Chinese personnel deployments to peacekeeping operations (PKOs) for the past three decades (1990-2019). To this end, an original dataset was built with data collected from the UN Department of Peace Operations. The following four indicators were considered in the analysis: (i) total personnel contribution per year; (ii) personnel contribution per mission; (iii) personnel contribution in relation to the mission’s total contingent; and (iv) personnel in a given mission in relation to the total personnel dispatched by China that year. Generally speaking, UN missions in Liberia (UNMIL) and South Sudan (UNMISS) have been the main destinations of Chinese peacekeepers in the 21st Century, while Cambodia (UNTAC) was by far the only place where China got deeply involved during the 1990s. In addition to displaying descriptive data, the paper also briefly analyses Chinese engagement in these operations.

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