| ID | 158713 |
| Title Proper | HIPPO in the room |
| Other Title Information | the pragmatic push-back from the UN peace bureaucracy against the militarization of UN peacekeeping |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Andersen, Louise Riis |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | As the global political landscape is in flux, the roles and functions of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping is also shifting. Increasingly, UN peacekeepers are deployed to places where there is no peace to keep. This challenges and undermines existing foundational assumptions of what UN peacekeeping ‘is’. Focusing on the UN peace bureaucracy, this article contributes to the debate on the future of UN peace operations and the pragmatic turn in peacebuilding. It does so by taking a step back to ask not how to make the UN ‘fit for purpose’ but rather for what purpose the international civil servants working for the UN wish the world body to be fit. Zooming in on the review conducted by the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) in 2014–2015, the article interprets the HIPPO as a deliberate push-back against the Security Council's robust turn to stabilization. To counter this militarized form of pragmatism, the HIPPO produced an alternative—more UN-like—yet still pragmatic vision of the future role of UN peace operations in the twenty-first century. The article suggests that while the Zeitgeist is moving from liberal templates towards more pragmatic forms of intervention, the exact role of the UN in this move remains contested—with UN officials actively contributing to the contestations. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Affairs Vol. 94, No.2; Mar 2018: p.343–361 |
| Journal Source | International Affairs Vol: 94 No 2 |
| Key Words | Security ; Defence ; Law ; International Governanc ; Ethics Conflict |