Peacekeeping and development in fragile states: Micro-level evidence from Liberia

Eric Mvukiyehe,Cyrus Samii

doi:10.1177/0022343320912813

Abstract

Peacekeeping operations are integral to multilateral strategies to help establish stable, self-sustaining peace and development in countries coming out of civil war. While we know, from macro-level empirical studies, that these operations contribute to the durability of peace, the evidence on their effectiveness at the micro level remains scant. Using surveys and administrative data from postwar Liberia, we test the hypothesis that peacekeeping deployments build peace ‘from the bottom up’ through contributions to local security and local economic and social vitality. The hypothesis reflects official thinking about how peacekeeping works via ‘peacebuilding’. We create a quasi-experiment by applying coarsened exact matching to administrative data used in mission planning, identifying sets of communities that were similarly likely to receive bases. We do not find effects on local security measured in terms of physical victimization, fear of victimization, or migration patterns. We find only modest effects on socio-economic vitality. NGOs tend to work in areas where deployments are not present, contrary to the hypothesis. Thus, we are less inclined to believe that peacekeepers build peace from the bottom up, leaving macro-level mechanisms such as signaling and deterrence at the level of leaders as worthy of more attention. In terms of policy, peacekeeping missions should re-evaluate their methods for providing local security.

Highlights

Peacekeeping operations are increasingly integral to the international community’s efforts to stabilize and address development challenges in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCV)–countries that typically face daunting development challenges.1 Traditionally, peacekeeping operations, those carried out under the United Nations, focused on helping belligerents implement peace agreements and maintain peace in the aftermath of civil war through mechanisms such as monitoring of ceasefire agreements or setting up of buffer zones between the belligerents, which can help build confidence and alleviate commitment problems (Fortna 2008).Since the early 1990s, peacekeeping operations saw a dramatic expansion to include non-military functions such as revitalizing the economy, rebuilding infrastructure, fostering democracy, and promoting human rights, to name a few (Cousens and Kumar 2001)
The objective of this paper is to investigate the effects of United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) deployments on local security, economic, and social outcomes presumed to be important for stable peace
Looking at the specific outcomes, we find positive effects for community-initiated rebuilding of wells and schools, the magnitude of the effect is small: on average, just about 1 more well or school project is undertaken in peacekeeping deployment (PKO) communities relative to non-PKO communities

Summary

Introduction

Since the early 1990s, peacekeeping operations saw a dramatic expansion to include non-military functions such as revitalizing the economy, rebuilding infrastructure, fostering democracy, and promoting human rights, to name a few (Cousens and Kumar 2001). These broader development activities, generally referred to as ‘peacebuilding activities,’ are in practice indistinguishable from development interventions (Paris 2004) and are often carried out in close coordination among the donors and key development actors (Tschirgi 2004; Woodward 2002).. By providing local-level security and assistance that facilitates economic and social revitalization, peacekeeping operations are presumed to raise the opportunity costs of war and empower those seeking peace.

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion