This critically acclaimed book has been updated to include recent and possible future peacekeeping missions in East Timor, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, and elsewhere. In an increasingly volatile world, Blue Helmets should be required reading for all students of international relations."--BOOK JACKET.

Born in 1945, the United Nations came to life in the Arab world. It was there that the UN dealt with early diplomatic challenges that helped shape its institutions such as peacekeeping and political mediation. It was also there that the UN found itself trapped in, and sometimes part of, confounding geopolitical tensions in key international conflicts in the Cold War and post–Cold War periods, such as hostilities between Palestine and Iraq and between Libya and Syria. Much has changed over the past seven decades, but what has not changed is the central role played by the UN. This book’s claim is that the UN is a constant site of struggle in the Arab world and equally that the Arab world serves as a location for the UN to define itself against the shifting politics of its age. Looking at the UN from the standpoint of the Arab world, this volume collects some of the finest scholars and practitioners writing about the potential and the problems of a UN that is framed by both the promises of its Charter and the contradictions of its member states. This is a landmark book—a close and informed study of the UN in the region that taught the organization how to do its many jobs.

UN publication sales no. E.90.I.18

The Women in Blue Helmets tells the story of the first all-female police unit deployed by India to the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia in January 2007. Lesley J. Pruitt investigates how the unit was originated, developed, and implemented, offering an important historical record of this unique initiative. Examining precedents in policing in the troop-contributing country and recent developments in policing in the host country, the book offers contextually rich examination of all-female units, explores the potential benefits of and challenges to women’s participation in peacekeeping, and illuminates broader questions about the relationship between gender, peace, and security.

The 1992–1995 battle for Sarajevo was the longest siege in modern history. It was also the most internationalized, attracting a vast contingent of aid workers, UN soldiers, journalists, smugglers, and embargo-busters. The city took center stage under an intense global media spotlight, becoming the most visible face of post-Cold War conflict and humanitarian intervention. However, some critical activities took place backstage, away from the cameras, including extensive clandestine trading across the siege lines, theft and diversion of aid, and complicity in the black market by peacekeeping forces. In Blue Helmets and Black Markets, Peter Andreas traces the interaction between these formal front-stage and informal backstage activities, arguing that this created and sustained a criminalized war economy and prolonged the conflict in a manner that served various interests on all sides. Although the vast majority of Sarajevans struggled for daily survival and lived in a state of terror, the siege was highly rewarding for some key local and international players. This situation also left a powerful legacy for postwar reconstruction: new elites emerged via war profiteering and an illicit economy flourished partly based on the smuggling networks built up during wartime. Andreas shows how and why the internationalization of the siege changed the repertoires of siege-craft and siege defenses and altered the strategic calculations of both the besiegers and the besieged. The Sarajevo experience dramatically illustrates that just as changes in weapons technologies transformed siege warfare through the ages, so too has the arrival of CNN, NGOs, satellite phones, UN peacekeepers, and aid convoys. Drawing on interviews, reportage, diaries, memoirs, and other sources, Andreas documents the business of survival in wartime Sarajevo and the limits, contradictions, and unintended consequences of international intervention. Concluding with a comparison of the battle for Sarajevo with the sieges of Leningrad, Grozny, and Srebrenica, and, more recently, Falluja, Blue Helmets and Black Markets is a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary urban warfare, war economies, and the political repercussions of humanitarian action.

'At a time when peacekeepers are struggling to fulfil increasingly demanding mandates and UN peacekeeping is in danger of losing the distinct character that won it the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize, this important book argues for a clear theoretical redefinition within a conflict resolution framework and examines the practical implications for training. This is a valuable and original contribution to the peacekeeping literature.' - Dr. Oliver Ramsbotham, Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford 'Both for the 'blue helmets' on the ground, and for the diplomats at UN headquarters, conflict resolution skills are essential for conducting peacekeeping operations. Betts Fetherstone's excellent study points the way forward to a synthesis between conflict management and peacekeeping?' - Hugh Miall, Research Fellow, European Programme, Royal Institute of International Affairs The prevailing over-taxed ad hoc system of peacekeeping does not meet the growing demands posed by the post-Cold War world. This volume argues that peacekeeping needs to be placed on firm conceptual footing directly congruent with its peaceful third party role. The implications of this conceptualisation of peacekeeping for practice are then discussed. Training is cited as a key means of translating conceptual understanding into practice. Without this foundation work, UN has little chance of changing its existing, and largely ineffective, system of conflict management. At a time when peacekeepers are struggling to fulfil increasingly demanding mandates and UN peacekeeping is in danger of losing the distinct character that won it the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize, this important book argues for a clear theoretical redefinition within a conflict resolution framework and examines the practical implications for training. This is a valuable and original contribution to the peacekeeping literature.

After being diagnosed with plagiocephaly, Miller began wearing a cranial remolding orthosis (baby helmet) for treatment. My Little Blue Helmet is based on the true story of Miller’s journey. In this story, Miller asks his mother many questions that a typical child might ask about wearing a helmet. His mother recaps the journey from the day he was diagnosed until the day he graduated from the helmet. This book was written to encourage other families who have children undergoing treatment for plagiocephaly.

Peace operations are the UN ́s flagship activity. Over the past decade, UN blue helmets have been dispatched to ever more challenging environments from the Congo to Timor to perform an expanding set of tasks. From protecting civilians in the midst of violent conflict to rebuilding state institutions after war, a new range of tasks has transformed the business of the blue helmets into an inherently knowledge-based venture. But all too often, the UN blue helmets, policemen, and other civilian officials have been "flying blind" in their efforts to stabilize countries ravaged by war. The UN realized the need to put knowledge, guidance and doctrine, and reflection on failures and successes at the center of the institution. Building on an innovative multi-disciplinary framework, this study provides a first comprehensive account of learning in peacekeeping. Covering the crucial past decade of expansion in peace operations, it zooms into a dozen cases of attempted learning across four crucial domains: police assistance, judicial reform, reintegration of former combatants, and mission integration. Throughout the different cases, the study analyzes the role of key variables as enablers and stumbling blocks for learning: bureaucratic politics, the learning infrastructure, leadership as well as power and interests of member states. Building on five years of research and access to key documents and decision-makers, the book presents a vivid portrait of an international bureaucracy struggling to turn itself into a learning organization. Aimed at policy-makers, diplomats, and a wide academic audience (including those working in international relations, peace research, political science, public administration, and organizational sociology), the book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the evolution of modern peace operations.

Despite reforms that have realized major improvements, gender power imbalances within and through peacekeeping missions continue to pose major challenges. Sabrina Karim and Kyle Beardsley explore how increasing the representation of women, particularly through an "equal opportunity" framework, will help peacekeeping operations become more of a vehicle for gender equality globally.

Air power for warfighting is a story that's been told many times. Air power for peacekeeping and UN enforcement is a story that desperately needs to be told. For the first-time, this volume covers the fascinating range of aerial peace functions. In rich detail it describes: aircraft transporting vital supplies to UN peacekeepers and massive amounts of humanitarian aid to war-affected populations; aircraft serving as the 'eyes in sky' to keep watch for the world organization; and combat aircraft enforcing the peace. Rich poignant case studies illuminate the past and present use of UN air power, pointing the way for the future. This book impressively fills the large gap in the current literature on peace operations, on the United Nations and on air power generally.