More than Fighting for Peace?

More than Fighting for Peace?

This book provides a contemporary account of the linkages between the academic field of conflict resolution and the practice of military peacekeeping; through the lens of pre-deployment training for military personnel about to embark on UN peacekeeping operations. Military personnel serving on United Nations peacekeeping operations are deployed into highly challenging post-conflict environments; where the likelihood of violence remains high. Moreover, these personnel are deployed part of a wider peace process; and are thus situated as an anchor point in a transition from war to peace.

This dimension of their work therefore means that a range of skills and techniques are relied upon; which come not from traditional military training, but from other, non-traditional fields.  It is into this gap where the academic field of conflict resolution has made a valuable contribution to understanding international peacekeeping. Since the 1970’s, studies have sought to understand international peacekeeping as a necessary stage in conflict de-escalation, and ultimately transformation. From this, there is a history of engagement including studies which seek to understand the skills peacekeepers may need to assist them in their day to day activities; and the role that international peacekeeping plays in wider projects of conflict transformation.