Peace operations and the international financial institutions: insights from Rwanda and Sierra Leone

Abstract

This essay reflects critically upon the question of why peace operations become necessary in certain parts of the world. It does so by exploring why the policies of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) should be understood as part of the explanation for war and genocide in Rwanda (1990–94) and war in Sierra Leone (1991–2002), which, in turn, eventually necessitated the presence of UN peace operations in these two states. The first section summarizes IFI engagement with the issue of violent conflict. This is followed by a critical evaluation of the ways in which in Rwanda and Sierra Leone, IFI policies helped fan the flames of war and genocide which UN (and other) peacekeepers were subsequently asked to put out. The final part reflects upon the relationship between IFI policies and peace operations in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. The essay concludes that the current regulation of the global capitalist economy and the philosophy underpinning IFI policies have fuelled patrimonial and authoritarian systems of governance in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. This has had disastrous consequences for both the citizens of these states and UN peace operations.