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Decorating the ‘Christmas Tree’: The UN Security Council and the Secretariat’s Recommendations on Peacekeeping Operations

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Kseniya Oksamytna at St George's, University of London
Kseniya Oksamytna
Magnus Lundgren at University of Gothenburg
Magnus Lundgren
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Abstract and Figures

Contemporary peacekeeping operations carry out a wide range of disparate tasks, which has triggered a debate about ‘Christmas Tree’ mandates. Did the UN Security Council and the UN Secretariat favor this expansion? Using original data on 19 UN peacekeeping missions, 1998-2014, we compare peacekeeping tasks recommended by the Secretariat to those mandated by the Council. We find that the two bodies differ regarding the nature, number, and novelty of peacekeeping tasks. First, the Council was equally likely to add a new task as to reject a Secretariat-proposed one. Second, the two bodies disagreed more over peacebuilding and peacemaking tasks than over peacekeeping tasks. Third, the Council preferred to be the one to introduce tasks that had not appeared in previous mandates. These findings suggest that the Secretariat favored the expansion of peacekeeping when it entailed low risks and the Council when it could set the direction of the expansion itself.
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      
                
    

Decorating the “Christmas Tree”
The UN Security Council and the Secretariat’s Recommendations
on Peacekeeping Mandates
    
     

    
    

Abstract
          
             
           
         
              
          
           
            
          
              
           
            
    
Keywords
         
        
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    
    
1 Introduction
            
          
            
             
         
            
         
          
           
            
         
           
    
          
            
         
           
          
            
         
           
          
           
         
     
          
       
         
            
            
            
            
          
            
             
    
               
        
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   
    
          
        
            
          
           
            
           
          
          
           
         
          
             
           
          
          
             
 
            
         
       
          
        
           
           
        
           
   
          
           
           
            
           
                 
              
            
             
         
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    
    
2 The Secretariat, the Security Council, and the Evolution
of Peacekeeping
         
         
          
          
           
            
         
          
  
         
          
       
          
          
            
           
         
           
           
   
           
         
          
           
         
          
        
 
 
    
  
     
 
 
    
      
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   
    
         
           

          
           
        
            
         
               
           
          
          
         

           
           
          
           
           
          
           
         
          
           
          
          
 
         
          
  
  
            
   
   
  
     
  
  
  
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    
    
              
         
            
           

           
         
           
           
            
           
           
        
3 Peacekeeping Mandate Negotiations
3.1 The Negotiation Process
         
          
           
          
          
         
          
           
           
         
             
          
      
           
            
          
         
   
        
    
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   
    
           
          
           
        
         
          
         
            
         
            
     
            
          
          
         
          
              
           

3.2 The Secretariat’s and the Security Council’s Expressed Preferences
          
          
         
            
         
        
           
       
   
         
     
        
     
  
    
   
       
  
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    
    
            
      
           
      
         
              
            
         
         
          
        
           
         
           
3.3 Similarity and Divergence in the Expressed Preferences
        
           
          
          
         
            
          
        
          
         
            
          
         
          
            
         
    
    
         
   
   
     
      
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   
    
            
          
            
        

          
          
          
        
           
           
             
          

           
             
          
              
            
           
            
         
          
              
       
          
         
           
         
            
          
          
 
  
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    
    
4 Data
4.1 Sample and Methodology
         
         
           
            
            
         
           
  
            
        
          
          
         
               
        
            
           
      
             
         
            
          
             
             
        
                  
            
 
          
             

             
          
               
           
             
 
      
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   
    
          
           
           
        
         
             
   
        
           
         
         
          
             

       
          
           
         
         
           
         
         
           
          
          
          
        
        
          
           
         
            
          
           
          
       
  
     
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    
    
            
           
  
4.2 Patterns in UN Peacekeeping Mandates, 1998–2014
            
         
          
             
             
             
         
             
           
             
         
     
            
        
           
          
           
          
       
           
          
            
           
              
            
            
           
            
            
           
              
  
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   
    
              
        
              
            
            
            
          
              
           
            
   
           
            
             
            
       
         
           
         
          
         
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    
    
         
           
            
         
         
         
                
           
             
               
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   
    
              
               
            
          
     
          
          
         
           
           
         
        
            
          

4.3 The Nature of the Secretariat–Security Council Disagreements
         
          
            
              
            
  
            
           
        
          
             
          
           
            
            
             
           
           
             
      
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    
    
        
           
    
           
             
         
             
        
           
           
           
           
             
         
        
     
             
             
         
           
             
           
         
           
            
             
    
     
  
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   
    
        
            
           
             
           
            
            
          
         
          
            
          
           
            
            
          
          
          
           
             
           
             
          
           
          
           
           
 
  
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    
    
        
         
          
          
             
          
        
              
            
          
        
            
         
             
           
         
          
         
          
             
           
          
           
             
        
            
            
            
    
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   
    
5 Conclusions
           
            
         
         
           
          
           
           
             
           
            
             
            
          
            
          
             

          
           
            
           
   
            
          
           
          
          
         
            
  
       
            
        
           
           
              
            
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    
    
        
 
           
        
           
           
         
             
         
           
           
         
         
             
          
          
            
         
          
         
         
            
     
           
           
           
         
          
               
            
        
     
             
 
  
             
           
          
      
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    
            
             
           
        
            
            
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            
       
  
           
   
          
        
          
          
     
         
         
        
       
           
        
 
            
          
          
          
     
            
              
            
        
          
      
        
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    
    
        
  
        

         
        
   
        
        
          
       
    
          
            

          
           
 
         
          
      
            
     
           
            
        
        
        
            
       
             
        
           
             
   
         
         

           
    
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   
    
        
     
          
        
           
       
          
        
     
         
            
  
       
            
 
          
      
          
      
         
            

           
        
          
   
       
        
   
            
      
            
  
          
             
      
           
      
           
        
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    
    
           
        
         


          
        
  
          
       
          
    
          
   
           
    
        

           
         
 
          
        
      
           
               
          
   
           
   
       
   
        
       
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   
    
Appendix
          
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What International Bureaucrats (Really) Want: Administrative Preferences in International Organization Research
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  • Nov 2020
  • GLOBAL GOV
The secretariats of international organizations (international public administrations [ IPA s]) constitute the institutional grid of global governance. While recent research has provided valuable insights into the independent capacities of international organizations ( IO s) and the influence of IPA s, we lack systematic knowledge of how scholars conceptualize the preferences of IO staff. This is lamentable because understanding the (unifying) motivations of “international civil servants” helps us to make sense of their behavior and influence during the adoption and application of IO policies. To review how IPA studies conceptualize the preferences of international bureaucrats, this article suggests a fourfold typology of ideal-typical bureaucratic behavior. It distinguishes between the underlying behavioral logic and dominant bureaucratic goal orientation. Applying the typology to thirty-nine journal articles allows us to map IPA preferences and behavior, and shows that the literature predominantly views IPA s as behaving responsibly and less self-centeredly than could be expected from economic accounts of bureaucracy.
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Introducing the Peacekeeping Mandates (PEMA) Dataset
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  • Mar 2022
Research on UN peacekeeping operations has established that operations' size and composition affect peacekeeping success. However, we lack systematic data for evaluating whether variation in tasks assigned to UN peacekeeping mandates matters and what explains different configurations of mandated tasks in the first place. Drawing on UN Security Council resolutions that establish, extend, or revise mandates of 27 UN peacekeeping operations in Africa in the 1991–2017 period, the Peacekeeping Mandates (PEMA) dataset fills this gap. It records 41 distinct tasks, ranging from disarmament to reconciliation and electoral support. For each task, the PEMA dataset also distinguishes between three modalities of engagement (monitoring, assisting, and securing) and whether the task is requested or merely encouraged. To illustrate the usefulness of our data, we re-examine Hultman, Kathman, and Shannon’s (2013) analysis of operations’ ability to protect civilians. Our results show that host governments and rebel groups respond differently to civilian protection mandates.
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Expanding without much ado. International bureaucratic expansion tactics in the case of bioethics
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  • Jun 2020
International bureaucracies can expand their activities into new domains, even when these are remote from their formal mandates. Asking how they do this, this article reveals that expansion often goes unnoticed, because international secretariats typically start new activities in a way which is informal, mundane and depoliticized. Through an examination of UNESCO’s and WHO’s expansion into the domain of bioethics, the article argues that international bureaucratic tactics revert to a three-fold strategy mixing technicalization, expertization and naturalization. This suggests that international bureaucracies’ autonomy does not depend on their fixed characteristics, as defined by their legal-institutional mandates, capacities, or level of expertise. Expansion takes place, rather, when such resources are efficiently activated, assembled, or developed, thus shedding light on the need to examine what international bureaucracies ‘do’, rather than what they ‘are’, in order to capture their influence in global governance.
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Only as fast as its troop contributors: Incentives, capabilities, and constraints in the UN's peacekeeping response
Article
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  • Jun 2020
  • J PEACE RES
International organizations’ ability to respond promptly to crises is essential for their effectiveness and legitimacy. For the UN, which sends peacekeeping missions to some of the world’s most difficult conflicts, responsiveness can save lives and protect the peace. Very often, however, the UN fails to deploy peacekeepers rapidly. Lacking a standing army, the UN relies on its member states to provide troops for peacekeeping operations. In the first systematic study of the determinants of deployment speed in UN peacekeeping, we theorize that this speed hinges on the incentives, capabilities, and constraints of the troop-contributing countries. Using duration modeling, we analyze novel data on the deployment speed in 28 peacekeeping operations between 1991 and 2015. Our data reveal three principal findings: All else equal, countries which depend on peacekeeping reimbursements by the UN, are exposed to negative externalities from a particular conflict, or lack parliamentary constraints on sending troops abroad deploy more swiftly than others. By underlining how member state characteristics affect aggregate outcomes, these findings have important implications for research on the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping, troop contribution dynamics, and rapid deployment initiatives.
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Slow Progress on UN Rapid Deployment: The Pitfalls of Policy Paradigms in International Organizations
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  • Jun 2020
When reform negotiations in international organizations (IOs) produce limited substantive progress, the diagnosis is typically a lack of political will. We identify a different dynamic: in protracted negotiations, international policy paradigms can emerge that enshrine a politically realistic but incomplete issue definition and thereby focus the debate on a subset of policy instruments that do not fully address the underlying problem. We draw on the multilateral negotiations literature to show how policy paradigms—which are widely explored in Comparative Politics, but largely neglected in International Relations—can emerge even in heterogenous IOs, where deep cognitive cohesion is unlikely. The risk of negotiation failure incentivizes negotiators to adopt and maintain “achievable” issue and goal definitions, which over time are accepted as axiomatic by diplomats, IO officials, and policy experts. The resulting international policy paradigms help avoid institutional paralysis, but can impede more ambitious reforms. To establish the empirical plausibility of this argument, we highlight the contemporary international policy paradigm of rapid deployment in UN peacekeeping, which focuses more on establishing an initial brigade-sized presence than on rapid deployment of the full peacekeeping force. Drawing on primary documents and interviews, we identify the roots of this First Brigade policy paradigm in reactions to the UN’s failure to respond to the 1994 Rwandan genocide and trace its consolidation during UN reform negotiations in the 2000s and early 2010s. We also demonstrate that an alternative explanation of the paradigm as reflecting operational lessons-learned does not hold: a brigade-sized initial presence is rarely sufficient for mandate implementation, does not reliably speed up full deployment, and creates risks for peacekeepers. By highlighting the existence and impact of international policy paradigms, our study adds to scholarship on the role of ideas in International Relations and provides a novel perspective on reform negotiations in IOs.
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Pleasing the Principal: U.S. Influence in World Bank Policymaking
Article
  • May 2020
  • AM J POLIT SCI
How do policies in international organizations reflect the preferences of powerful institutional stakeholders? Using an underutilized data set on the conditions associated with World Bank loans, we find that borrower countries that vote with the United States at the United Nations are required to enact fewer domestic policy reforms, and on fewer and softer issue areas. Though U.S. preferences permeate World Bank decision making, we do not find evidence that borrower countries trade favors in exchange for active U.S. intervention on their behalf. Instead, we propose that U.S. influence operates indirectly when World Bank staff—consciously or unconsciously—design programs that are compatible with U.S. preferences. Our study provides novel evidence of World Bank conditionality and shows that politicized policies can result even from autonomous bureaucracies.
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