Incredible Commitments
How UN Peacekeeping Failures Shape Peace Processes

Even when they don't want peace, combatants seek out UN peacemaking for its unique tactical, material, and symbolic benefits.

Anjali Kaushlesh Dayal (Author)

9781108824095, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 July 2023

223 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.34 kg

'Dayal presents a thought-provoking re-evaluation of the credible commitment theory from a fresh viewpoint. Her work is relevant not only for scholars and policymakers interested in UN peacekeeping, but also for those who are studying peace processes in Rwanda and Guatemala.' Bar?? Ar?, International Peacekeeping

Why do warring parties turn to United Nations peacekeeping and peacemaking even when they think it will fail? Dayal asks why UN peacekeeping survived its early catastrophes in Somalia, Rwanda, and the Balkans, and how this survival should make us reconsider how peacekeeping works. She makes two key arguments: first, she argues the UN's central role in peacemaking and peacekeeping worldwide means UN interventions have structural consequences – what the UN does in one conflict can shift the strategies, outcomes, and options available to negotiating parties in other conflicts. Second, drawing on interviews, archival research, and process-traced peace negotiations in Rwanda and Guatemala, Dayal argues warring parties turn to the UN even when they have little faith in peacekeepers' ability to uphold peace agreements – and even little actual interest in peace – because its involvement in negotiation processes provides vital, unique tactical, symbolic, and post-conflict reconstruction benefits only the UN can offer.

Introduction
1. The social context of international peacekeeping and the alternative benefits of bargaining
2. Methods and case selection
3. The Arusha negotiations, 1990-1994: Unamir in the shadow of Somalia
4. Guatemala, 1989-1996: Minigua in light of El Salvador
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: United Nations & UN agencies [JPSN1], International institutions [JPSN], International relations [JPS]