| Publication |
2013.
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the ways in which United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions affect democratic progress and the durability of peace in post-civil war states. After a conflict, UN peacekeeping missions provide security and create incentives for former actors to resolve their differences through peaceful and democratic means. This article contends that by providing support, peacekeeping missions help to initiate a democratic process such that former rivals can claim access to power and resources without resorting to armed conflict. To arrive at this conclusion, this article empirically examines whether UN peacekeeping missions succeeded in promoting democratic progress in postwar states and, subsequently, whether that democratic progress would contribute to the durability of peace. The indirect effect of peacekeeping on stable peace has not been explored in the literature surrounding democratic progress and the durability of peace. From the analysis of the data on post-civil war democratic progress and the durability of peace from 1946 to 2005, I find support for the alternative approach and conclude that UN missions contribute to durable peace in post-civil war states by promoting democratic political processes.
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