Chapter 7, “Third Party Peacemaking and Peacekeeping,” by Kyle Beardsley
Members of the global community, including the United Nations, aim to resolve the world’s most intractable conflicts using mediation, peacekeeping missions, and other conflict resolution tools. Can such efforts work? This chapter, written by one of the field’s foremost experts, answers this question. The chapter lays out the basic ideas of peacemaking and peacekeeping, developing a conceptual framework that explains how these efforts are intended to help belligerents end conflict and build lasting peace. The chapter then works through the potential limitations of peacemaking and peacekeeping, presenting a balanced perspective assessing if and when these efforts can succeed. The chapter includes a case study on peacemaking and peacekeeping in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, and a summary of a quantitative study of mediation and interstate conflict.
Most appropriate for classes on war and politics, and conflict resolution.
What makes this chapter different:
●Comprehensive, approachable, theoretically informed account integrates the central issues pertaining to peacemaking and peacebuilding.
●Treats a critical policy issue with conceptual structure and historical context.
●Careful case study of important recent attempts at peacekeeping and peacebuilding amidst spiraling violence in the African Great Lakes region.
Dr. Kyle Beardsley is associate professor of political science at Duke University. He is the author of several leading articles on mediation and peacekeeping and The Mediation Dilemma (Cornell, 2011). He is also coauthor of the award-winning Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping: Women, Peace, and Security in Post-Conflict States (Oxford, 2017).