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We are grateful to Michelle Benson, Jon Winburn, and four anonymous reviewers for their feedback and guidance. Lisa Hultman thanks the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond in Sweden for their support. Megan Shannon thanks the generous support of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
The nature of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping has changed over the last two decades. While once intended primarily to bolster post-conflict peace processes, contemporary peacekeeping missions are commonly deployed to states in which the guns on the battlefield have not yet silenced. Since the end of the Cold War, the United Nations has deployed 28 peacekeeping operations (PKOs) to Africa, 21 of which served during an active civil conflict. Intervention into active conflict has dramatically changed the responsibilities of peacekeepers and the challenges they face. Peacekeepers are no longer meant simply to keep the peace. Modern operations must also reduce hostilities between conflicting parties and establish favorable conditions for a subsequent peace process.
As an illustration, consider the UN's 1992 mission to Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and its current mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). ONUMOZ was a fairly modest mission deployed to uphold an agreement ending Mozambique's civil war. ONUMOZ monitored the implementation of the peace agreement, facilitated elections, and coordinated humanitarian assistance--all tasks associated with keeping peace after conflict. In contrast, over 18,000 military troops serving with MONUSCO have been deployed to intercede between combatants, disarm and demobilize rebel and paramilitary factions, protect civilians, and at times, confront belligerents directly.
The differences between missions to Mozambique and the Congo underscore a fundamental transformation in peacekeeping. The UN is increasingly asked to halt active conflict. Yet, we know little about the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping missions in reducing battlefield violence. Recognizing the traditional role of peacekeeping to prevent conflict recidivism, a number of studies examine the UN's efforts in post-conflict environments (e.g., Doyle and Sambanis 2000; Fortna 2004a; Fortna 2008). Popular accounts of UN efforts in active conflicts suggest that the UN is deficient in stopping ongoing hostilities (Boot 2000). Unfortunately, little research has used broad empirical analyses to understand the UN's ability to reduce battlefield hostilities.
This article explores how UN peacekeeping influences violence...