Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Local Ownership: Dynamics of External–Local Interaction in Kosovo under United Nations Administration

Abstract

From the beginning of United Nations peacebuilding in Kosovo in mid-1999, until today's transition to the institutions of self-government under European Union oversight, the interaction between external and local actors has been an extremely dynamic process; one significantly influenced by external peacebuilders’ promises and policies of greater local ownership. Against this background, the paper aims to reconstruct classic problem-solving approaches for the analysis of post-war peacebuilding. Rather than concentrate primarily on the technical delivery of postwar reconstruction measures, the paper emphasizes interaction processes and dynamics between external and local actors and shows that local actors are far from powerless in the peacebuilding process. In so doing, the paper links the concept of local ownership to questions of the disputed legitimacy of peacebuilding in Kosovo. It is this drawing of boundaries between the local and the international which contributes to significant shifts in external–local peacebuilding interaction. The paper hypothesizes that the later significant local ownership is achieved and external authority transferred to local representatives, the more local actors tend to challenge the legitimacy of the peacebuilding agenda and engage in confrontation with international actors. It is the opening up of space for local politics which allows peacebuilding to continue to be considered legitimate.