Does Peacekeeping Work?: Shaping Belligerents' Choices after Civil War

In the last fifteen years, the number, size, and scope of peacekeeping missions deployed in the aftermath of civil wars have increased exponentially. From Croatia and Cambodia, to Nicaragua and Namibia, international personnel have been sent to maintain peace around the world. But does peacekeeping work? And if so, how? In "Does Peacekeeping Work?", Virginia Page Fortna answers these questions through the systematic analysis of civil wars that have taken place since the end of the Cold War. She compares peacekeeping and nonpeacekeeping cases, and she investigates where peacekeepers go, showing that their missions are crucial to the most severe internal conflicts in countries and regions where peace is otherwise likely to falter.Fortna demonstrates that peacekeeping is an extremely effective policy tool, dramatically reducing the risk that war will resume. Moreover, she explains that relatively small and militarily weak consent-based peacekeeping operations are often just as effective as larger, more robust enforcement missions. Fortna examines the causal mechanisms of peacekeeping, paying particular attention to the perspective of the peacekept - the belligerents themselves - on whose decisions the stability of peace depends. Based on interviews with government and rebel leaders in Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, "Does Peacekeeping Work?" demonstrates specific ways in which peacekeepers alter incentives, alleviate fear and mistrust, prevent accidental escalation to war, and shape political procedures to stabilize peace.

Table of Contents:
LIST OF FIGURES, MAPS, AND TABLES ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi CHAPTER ONE: Peacekeeping and the Peacekept Questions, Definitions, and Research Design 1 CHAPTER TWO: Where Peacekeepers Go I Hypotheses and Statistical Evidence 18 CHAPTER THREE: Where Peacekeepers Go II Evidence from the Cases 47 CHAPTER FOUR: A Causal Theory of Peacekeeping 76 CHAPTER FIVE: Peacekeeping Works Evidence of Effectiveness 104 CHAPTER SIX: How Peacekeeping Works Causal Mechanisms from the Perspective of the Peacekept 127 CHAPTER SEVEN: Conclusion and Implications 172 APPENDIX A: The Data 181 APPENDIX B: Predicting the Degree of Difficulty of Maintaining Peace 187 REFERENCES 191 INDEX 207

About the Author :
Virginia Page Fortna is associate professor of political science at Columbia University. She is the author of "Peace Time: Cease-Fire Agreements and the Durability of Peace" (Princeton).

Review :
In this well-researched and solidly argued book, Fortna examines the casual relationship between peacekeeping and durable peace in a number of different settings... Using quantitative analysis and qualitative case analysis of conflicts of Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone, the author provides detailed information on international peacekeeping. -- N. Entessar Choice