Navigating the Complexity of HIV/AIDS in African Peacekeeping Missions: Challenges and Prospects

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 361-384
Author(s):  
Ayodele Akenroye
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Hiv Transmission ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Hiv Aids

The end of the Cold War witnessed the resurgence of ethnic conflicts in Africa, which necessitated the deployment of peacekeeping missions in many crisis contexts. The risk of HIV transmission increases in post-conflict environments where peacekeepers are at risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS. In response, UN Security Council Resolution 1308 (2000) stressed the need for the UN to incorporate HIV/AIDS prevention awareness skills and advice in its training for peacekeepers. However, troops in peacekeeping missions remain under national command, thus limiting the UN prerogatives. This article discusses the risk of peacekeepers contracting or transmitting HIV/AIDS, as well as the role of peacekeeping missions in controlling the spread of the disease, and offers an account of the steps taken within UN peacekeeping missions and African regional peacekeeping initiatives to tackle the challenges of HIV/AIDS. While HIV/AIDS remains a scourge that could weaken peacekeeping in Africa, it seems that inertia has set in, making it even more difficult to tackle the complexity of this phenomenon.

Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting

2014 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA HULTMAN ◽  
JACOB KATHMAN ◽  
MEGAN SHANNON
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Violent Conflict ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
United Nations Peacekeeping ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War

While United Nations peacekeeping missions were created to keep peace and perform post-conflict activities, since the end of the Cold War peacekeepers are more often deployed to active conflicts. Yet, we know little about their ability to manage ongoing violence. This article provides the first broad empirical examination of UN peacekeeping effectiveness in reducing battlefield violence in civil wars. We analyze how the number of UN peacekeeping personnel deployed influences the amount of battlefield deaths in all civil wars in Africa from 1992 to 2011. The analyses show that increasing numbers of armed military troops are associated with reduced battlefield deaths, while police and observers are not. Considering that the UN is often criticized for ineffectiveness, these results have important implications: if appropriately composed, UN peacekeeping missions reduce violent conflict.

Ireland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Speller
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
International Engagement ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This chapter explores the evolution of Irish defence policy from the end of the cold war through to 2017. It provides an analysis of national strategy, military doctrine, and force structures and reveals how these have evolved to meet new challenges and opportunities. The chapter explains how successive governments have sought to balance a reluctance to devote significant resources to defence and the desire to maintain the longs-tanding tradition of neutrality with a commitment to international engagement through the UN and active participation in a number of UN peacekeeping missions overseas. It also examines how the relationship with NATO and the EU has evolved. The chapter explores changes to the role and structure of the Defence Forces since the 1990s and concludes with an examination of existing policy and future challenges in the aftermath of the 2015 defence review.

The Internationalization of Domestic Conflict: The Role of the UN Security Council

1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-35
Author(s):  
Niels M. Blokker ◽  
Marieke Kleiboer
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Veto Power ◽  
International Level ◽  
First Line ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Cold War

In recent years, the UN Security Council has increasingly been involved in domestic conflicts. To explain this development, two lines of arguments have been used most often, both referring to the end of the Cold War. The first line of argument holds that the collapse of the Soviet Union has led to more domestic conflicts that manifest themselves at the international level, and the UN has simply responded to that growing problem. In the second line of argument, the collapse of the Soviet Union has led to an end of the anticipation and use of Soviet veto power in the Security Council, leading to more opportunities for the UN to take a more proactive stance in domestic conflicts. How plausible are these explanations? In this article, the argument is made that both lines of explanation rest partly on faulty premises.

South Asian Regionalism and un Peacekeeping Missions

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 249-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashed Uz Zaman ◽  
Niloy Ranjan Biswas
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asian ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Regional Collaboration ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Asian Regionalism ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War

United Nations (un) peacekeeping missions have become an important feature of world politics since the end of the Cold War. In recent times, the intensity of peacekeeping missions has increased and new challenges have also emerged. Under such circumstances, the un has often highlighted the importance of regional organizations getting more involved in undertaking and sustaining such missions. South Asian countries provide a large number of troops to un missions and yet, a regional collaboration has not been accorded much importance by countries of the region. This paper argues, given the emerging challenges, South Asian countries may have to resort to a regional approach with regard to peacekeeping missions.

scholarly journals Does the UN Security Council Compound the Global Democratic Deficit?

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 913
Author(s):  
Jeremy Farrall
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
International Norm ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Relationship

Since the end of the Cold War, the UN Security Council has frequently endorsed the notion that democracy and democratic governance are desirable preconditions for domestic stability and international peace and security. However, the Security Council’s response to the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential elections called into question, perhaps for the first time since the end of the Cold War, its commitment to democracy as the preferred from of domestic governance. In this article, the author discusses the concept of the democratic deficit and explores its application to the UN Security Council. In addition, the author examines the relationship between democracy and international law, retracing the argument that there is an international norm promoting democratic governance. Finally, the author examines the relationship between the Security Council and democracy, suggesting a growing formal commitment to democracy, particularly in post-conflict environments.

United Nations, Peacekeeping Operations, and Peacebuilding Framework: A Critical Analysis of ‘Security- Development’ Nexus

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yosuke Nagai
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Peace Processes ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Development Paradigm

The security-development nexus has become one of the most important agendas especially in the field of peacebuilding in response to urgent needs in complex humanitarian assistance in war-torn areas. With the changing dynamics of conflict since the end of the Cold War, recent peacebuilding efforts have employed a combination of security and development paradigm to ameliorate severe human rights situations in different contexts. In particular, the functionality of security-development nexus has been well observed in post-conflict scenarios where broader state-building, institutional, security, and governance-related reforms were implemented to ensure sustainable peace processes. In addition, it has been criticized in terms of the imposed liberal values. This article critically analyzes the security-development nexus and attempts to examine how and why the nexus has become essential to the post-Cold War peacebuilding framework. It further elucidates the role of the United Nations (UN) as the leading actor in peacebuilding operations, especially in the form of UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) which have played a significant role in establishing and consolidating peace in various conflict-ridden societies.

Women in Post-Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Scanlon
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Humanitarian Interventions ◽  
Gender Power ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
The Cold War

Women’s experiences of conflict have been the subject of increased international attention since the end of the Cold War and this has been accompanied by a concomitant growth in attention to the role of women in peace and security initiatives in Africa. Alongside the rise of humanitarian interventions, new trends have emerged in the realms of conflict resolution, accountability, and post-conflict transformation. As a result, post-conflict experiences in Africa in the 21st century have revealed numerous opportunities for the advancement of gender justice. Experiences from countries emerging from conflict on the continent provide some important examples of promoting women’s rights through accountability mechanisms, furthering access to government, producing gender-sensitive reform, challenging discriminatory laws, and advancing economic opportunities. However, while women’s needs and rights have been increasingly recognized through international and national commitments, women continue to face widespread gender-based violence as well as socioeconomic challenges in the aftermath of conflict. Thus, understanding intersectional experiences of conflict and the role of enduring gender power relations are critical to revisiting how transitions might be transformative.

European Involvement in United Nations Peacekeeping

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Gowan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Intelligence Gathering ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Medical Evacuation ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
United Nations Peacekeeping ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
And Control

European soldiers played a major part in United Nations peacekeeping during the cold war, and were heavily involved in missions in the Balkans and Africa in the early 1990s. The disasters of Rwanda and Srebrenica led most European states, with exceptions such as Ireland and Sweden, to limit their role in blue-helmet peacekeeping missions. European multinational forces and EU-flagged missions have, however, backed up UN missions in cases such as Sierra Leone, and Europeans returned to UN peacekeeping in cases including Lebanon and Mali. Officers used to NATO and EU standards remain wary of UN command and control, medical evacuation, and intelligence gathering. When Europeans deploy in UN missions, they often find their non-Western comrades ‘exotic’. Nonetheless, since the end of major operations in Afghanistan, a number of European countries have taken UN operations more seriously, especially as a tool to handle threats of terrorism and uncontrolled migration from Africa.

Benelux Countries

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim Klinkert
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Defence Policy ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Defence Cooperation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
The Cold War

The defence policy of the Netherlands and Belgium has changed substantially following the end of the cold war. Both countries suspended conscription early on and actively participated in many (UN) peacekeeping missions. Both countries also experienced traumatic events that influenced their defence policy: in Ruanda for the Belgians in 1994 and in Bosnia (Srebrenica) for the Dutch (1995). Drastic budget cuts and the integration of the new, but small, professional armies within new NATO and EU defence structures (CSDP and NRF) are also themes with which both countries struggled. Both countries embraced pooling and sharing and cultivated European defence cooperation, especially within Benelux but also with Germany, the UK, and increasingly with other partners. Simultaneously they also attached much value to their ties with the USA. The Dutch furthermore attach great importance to the development of the international legal order and the safeguarding of the flow of trade by sea.

UN Peacekeeping during Health Crises: Covid-19 and Expansion of Mission Mandates

2021 ◽  
pp. 113-118
Author(s):  
Hajira Arif
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Complex Environments ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
The Times ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions ◽  
Hiv Aids

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions are increasingly deployed in highly complex environments, working towards realizing global peace and security. The missions face numerous challenges ranging from socio-economic dimensions to even political hurdles. Among these challenges, the role of peacekeepers during health crises calls for in-depth exploration. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the need for contextualizing peacekeeping amid health crises is receiving utmost attention. This essay looks at this challenge, notably during the outbreaks of HIV/AIDS, Cholera, Ebola, and the ongoing pandemic (i.e., Covid-19). It briefly analyzes the impacts experienced and the role played by peacekeepers during the times of these outbreaks. The essay also explores the need for „transformation‟ of peacekeeping missions to counter the challenges posed by health crises. It highlights how globalization has caused the „globalized‟ nature of diseases, and therefore thereis an urgent need for exploration and adoption of policies concerning this issue. The essay also suggests some of these potential measures that may equip the peacekeeping missions to fulfil their mandated tasks effectively. It also points towards the gaps in the literature, whose exploration may contribute towards realizing health crises within the broader roles of the peacekeeping mandates.

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