The Security Council (SC) is a venue where many different countries gather to deal with matters of international peace and security. Spain has held a seat in the SC on four occasions (1969-1970, 1981-1982, 1993-1994, and 2003-2004). The presence of Spain in these different periods of its recent history allows us to examine the evolution of the Spanish foreign policy over that period. The conclusions that can be drawn are two: First, that the presence in the SC has consolidated Spain as a relevant actor in international relations; second, that Spain's role in the SC can serve as an inspiration for other countries that, like Spain, pursue a more active multilateral and supportive role in international affairs.

La France a toujours joué un rôle dans le cadre des opérations de paix en Afrique noire,surtout depuis la chute du mur de Berlin avec l’émergence des nouveaux conflits intraétatiquesqui nécessitent non seulement des acteurs traditionnels, mais aussi, des nouveauxacteurs dotés de nouvelles compétences pour ramener la paix et la sécurité dans les sociétésmarquées par les conflits. Cependant, son implication sur les opérations de paix est souventsujette de diverses critiques mal définies comme ingérence dans les affaires intérieures, excèsde bavure, illégalité, retour du néocolonialisme, due à l’absence d’une politique decollaboration cohérente avec d’autres acteurs qui exercent sur le terrain. C’est pourquoi, lestravaux de recherche portent sur les opérations françaises de paix, les acteurs de relationsinternationales français qui participent sur les opérations de paix, et enfin, sur lacompréhension des interactions décisionnelles au niveau de chaque opération. Il s’agit demettre en lumière les spécificités des pratiques politiques, des différentes stratégies déployéespar les acteurs, des rapports de force et des enjeux du pouvoir qui sous-tendent la prise dedécision en France dans le cadre des opérations de paix. / France has always played a role in peace operations in Black Africa, especially since the fallof the Berlin Wall with the emergence of new intrastate conflicts that require not only thetraditional players but also new actors with new skills to restore peace and security in societiesmarked by conflict. However, its involvement in peacekeeping operations is often subjectto various unclear critics as interference in internal affairs, excess burrs, illegality back neocolonialism,due to the absence of a coherent policy of collaboration with other actors who performon the field. Therefore, the research focuses on French peace operations, the actors ofFrench international relations participating in peacekeeping operations, and finally, on understandingthe interactions decision at each operation. This is to highlight the specific politicalpractices, different strategies of the actors, power relations and issues of power that underliedecision making in France as part of peacekeeping operations.

Maintenir la paix et la sécurité internationales est le but primordial de la Charte desNations Unies au sortir de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Par son article 2 §4, la Charte établitdésormais « le principe du non recours à la force » et ambitionne ainsi de mettredéfinitivement un terme aux conflits armés. Toutefois, un continent, l’Afrique, semble ne pasemboiter le pas et s’illustre non seulement par un nombre de conflits très important maiségalement par les efforts continuels de l’Organisation des Nations Unies à y maintenir la paix.Ces efforts sont soutenus au niveau régional par l’Union africaine, organisation régionalecréée par les Etats africains en 2002, en remplacement de l’Organisation de l’Unité africaine.La persistance des conflits armés sur le continent conduit cependant à se questionner surl’efficacité du maintien de la paix en Afrique par l’ONU et l’Union africaine, ainsi que sur lesmécanismes mis en place par les deux organisations en vue de parvenir à une telle efficacité.L’examen de cette question est abordé en reprenant les deux grandes spécificités du maintiende la paix, notamment l’aspect institutionnel et l’aspect matériel du maintien de la paix,envisagé l’un et l’autre du point de vue de leur efficacité.Sur un plan institutionnel, l’étude porte sur les organes effectivement créés par l’ONU etl’Union africaine en vue du maintien de la paix en Afrique, sur la coopération établie entreces différents organes, ainsi que sur l’appui apporté par l’ONU au renforcement des capacitésinstitutionnelles de l’Union africaine.Pour l’aspect matériel, ce sont les modalités particulières de mises en oeuvre du maintien de lapaix qui sont ici abordées. Ceci passe par un examen de l’efficacité des opérations demaintien de la paix. / Maintaining international peace and security is the primary purpose of the Charterof the United Nations after the Second World War. By Article 2 § 4, the Charter states "theprinciple of non-threat and non-use of force" and thus aims to put a definitive end to armedconflicts. However, the African continent seems not to max out and illustrates not only by avery large number of armed conflicts but also by the ongoing efforts of the United Nations tokeep the peace. These efforts are supported regionally by the African Union, a regionalorganization established by African States in 2002 to replace the Organization of AfricanUnity. The persistence of armed conflicts on the continent, however, leads to question theeffectiveness of peacekeeping in Africa by the United Nations and the African Union, as wellas the mechanisms established by both organizations to achieve with such effectiveness.Consideration of this issue is discussed considering the two major characteristics ofpeacekeeping, namely the institutional aspect and the material aspect of peacekeeping,considered one and the other in terms of their effectiveness.For the institutional aspect, the study focuses on the organs actually created by the UN andthe African Union for peacekeeping in Africa, the cooperation between these organs, as wellas the support provided by the UN for the capacity-building of the African Union.For the material aspect, it is the specific terms of implementations of peacekeeping that areraised here. This requires a review of the effectiveness of the peacekeeping operations.

This thesis investigates how peace operations work. It contributes to the larger study of peace operation effectiveness by analysing the processes through which these institutions influence local actors in postconflict societies. Looking beyond traditional concerns with mandates and resources, it aims to understand how a peace operation seeks to achieve its goals, focusing on why local populations might cooperate with or obstruct its activities. The thesis draws on theories of social power, compliance and legitimation to answer four central questions: what power do peace operations have to achieve their objectives? From where do peace operations derive power? How do local perceptions of an operation enable or constrain its effectiveness? How are peace operations legitimised at the local level, and with what effect? It begins by critically reviewing the academic literature, arguing that existing approaches are unable to account for important dimensions of peace operation effectiveness because they neglect the local setting in which operations pursue their goals, and the extent to which the achievement of those goals requires local cooperation. It then develops an analytical framework to examine the processes of coercion, inducement and legitimacy through which peace operations seek to shape the decisions and actions of local actors. This power-legitimacy framework is applied to study the effectiveness of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and the Regional Assistance Mission in Solomon Islands (RAMSI). By comparing variation in local cooperation between and within these cases, the thesis shows that the way a peace operation is locally perceived is an important but often overlooked determinant of its effectiveness. In particular, when local actors perceive a peace operation to be legitimate, they are more likely to behave in ways that assist the operation to achieve its goals. The thesis concludes by discussing the implications of this finding for the future study and practice of peace operations.

No description available.

MAIR / Department of Development Studies