Using Force to Protect Civilians (PDF)

Using Force to Protect Civilians offers the first comprehensive analysis of United Nations military protection operations across time and UN missions, drawing on a novel dataset that covers 200 operations from ten UN peacekeeping missions in Africa from 1999 to 2017. Employing a mixed-methods research design, the book finds that Blue Helmets succeed as often as they fail when they employ force to protect, indicating that they can wield force effectively - under the right conditions - to achieve this priority task. Stian Kjeksrud shows that effective UN military protection operations must rest on a deep understanding of perpetrators' motivation and modus operandi for attacking civilians, facilitating tailored military responses to stop or reduce physical threats in a timely manner. Adding to existing knowledge about the conflict-reducing effect of the presence of uniformed UN personnel, he also finds that specific actions matter more than the simple presence of Blue Helmets in large numbers. While protecting civilians is a priority task for military peacekeepers, we have limited knowledge about how they fare across time and in different UN missions when they use force to protect. We also remain largely ignorant of the conditions leading to successful outcomes when they intervene militarily to protect civilians from violence. Using Force to Protect Civilians addresses both of these knowledge gaps, and provides the building blocks for a theory of the utility of force to protect civilians in UN peace operations.