International Peacekeeping and Positive Peace: An Experimental Approach

Abstract

\We consider the impact of international peacekeeping forces on micro-foundations for positive peace after violence. Our approach uses novel experimental methods to illustrate how third-party monitoring and enforcement mechanisms could enhance intergroup trust and deter the rise of would-be spoilers. Our experiment shows that while third-party intervention can have short-term positive effects on trust, spoiler activity increases once monitoring and enforcement mechanisms are removed, undermining most gains. At the same time, we also find that interventions with clear enforcement mechanisms perform better to enhance trust and deter spoiler behavior than monitoring alone. We then consider whether our experimental results have real-world extensions to different peacekeeping intervention strategies for building positive peace after violence. By exploiting heterogeneity in NATO peacekeeping strategies in different regions of post-war Kosovo, our experimental inferences about monitoring and enforcement appear robust to ecological conditions in the field.