| This dissertation addresses the question: why has United Nations peacekeeping been more successful in management of some internal conflicts than others? Success is defined with regard to limiting violence, reducing human suffering, preventing conflict from spreading and fulfilling the mission's mandate. International relations and comparative politics approaches are combined to create a theoretical framework. External and domestic factors are analyzed in terms of their relative importance and interactive effects using quantitative comparative analysis and qualitative cases studies.; Quantitative study examines seventeen peacekeeping missions between 1945 and 1998: UNAVEM III (Angola), ONUMOZ (Mozambique), UNTAG (Namibia), UNAMIR (Rwanda), UNOSOM II (Somalia), ONUC (Congo), UNTAG (Cambodia), UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNFICYP (Cyprus), UNPROFOR (Bosnia-Herzegovina), UNPROFOR (Croatia), UNCRO (Croatia), UNTAES (Croatia), UNPROFOR (Macedonia), UNPREDER (Macedonia), UNMIH, and UNSMIH (Haiti). Qualitative case studies focus on failure in Angola (UNAVEM III), success in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and the varying performance in Croatia (UNPROFOR, UNCRO, UNTAES).; The findings of this project highlight the importance of certain international and domestic factors for the varying effectiveness of UN peacekeeping missions. As predicted, the key determinants of UN peacekeeping success are consistent commitment on the part of the UN members to particular missions, absence of external support for the belligerents, and a low degree of mutual antagonism. Contrary to expectations, the involvement of the great powers, the activities of regional organizations, the level of diplomatic efforts, the presence of an objective military balance, absence of an ethnic component and the mission's characteristics are not necessary for peacekeeping success. The conclusion underlines implications of this project for international relations and comparative politics literature as well as the foreign policy community. |
