<p>The United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was passed by the Security Council in 2000. Its passing was made possible by the efforts of NGOs around the world and was seen as a huge step for women in conflict and post-conflict situations as women were not only seen as victims but as agents of peace. The resolution deals with the obligations of Member States as well as those of the Security Council within its peacekeeping missions.</p><p>Eight years have passed since the passing of the resolution and this thesis examines how the resolution is visible in a peacekeeping mission. In order to answer this question reports and resolutions by the Security Council and the Secretary- General have been examined as well as literature on gender and peacekeeping. Field research was conducted in the Sudan from April to June 2008 in Khartoum and Kadugli. Interviews were carried out with NGOs, UN staff and with personnel within the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, UNMIS.</p><p>The UN reports and the field research both conclude that there are several obstacles preventing resolution 1325 from being implemented within the UN. One of the main obstacles is the lack of accountability within the UN system. Furthermore, it was found that personal interest played a major role in whether or not a gender perspective was being taken into account. Gender was also regarded by UN staff as ad hoc instead of an integral part of their work. The conclusion is that resolution 1325 is not yet fully visible in the peacekeeping mission observed, UNMIS.</p>

The United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security was passed by the Security Council in 2000. Its passing was made possible by the efforts of NGOs around the world and was seen as a huge step for women in conflict and post-conflict situations as women were not only seen as victims but as agents of peace. The resolution deals with the obligations of Member States as well as those of the Security Council within its peacekeeping missions. Eight years have passed since the passing of the resolution and this thesis examines how the resolution is visible in a peacekeeping mission. In order to answer this question reports and resolutions by the Security Council and the Secretary- General have been examined as well as literature on gender and peacekeeping. Field research was conducted in the Sudan from April to June 2008 in Khartoum and Kadugli. Interviews were carried out with NGOs, UN staff and with personnel within the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan, UNMIS. The UN reports and the field research both conclude that there are several obstacles preventing resolution 1325 from being implemented within the UN. One of the main obstacles is the lack of accountability within the UN system. Furthermore, it was found that personal interest played a major role in whether or not a gender perspective was being taken into account. Gender was also regarded by UN staff as ad hoc instead of an integral part of their work. The conclusion is that resolution 1325 is not yet fully visible in the peacekeeping mission observed, UNMIS.

Efter Andra Världskriget och författandet samt ratificerandet av den traditionella folkrätten har huvuddelen av de väpnade sammandrabbningarna haft karaktären av icke-internationella konflikter med en asymmetrisk uppsättning aktörer. Samtidigt har den värst drabbade aktören kommit att vara civilbefolkningen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att problematisera skyddet av civilbefolkningen i den nya tidens konflikter. I uppsatsen genomförs en kvalitativ textanalys av Säkerhetsrådets resolutioner och missionsspecifika strategier för skydd av civila i de tre FN-missionerna UNMIS, UNAMID och MONUC. Resultatet av analysen problematiseras därefter utifrån van Crevelds non-trinitarian theory för att undersöka vilka problem det finns med att tillämpa det traditionella folkrättsliga skyddet av civila i nya tidens konflikter. Det sammanvägda resultatet av studien visar att det finns problem med att tillämpa det traditionella folkrättsliga skyddet av civila i nya tidens konflikter, och att ett av huvudproblemen är att skyddet endast tycks adresseras av världssamfundet. / After the Second World War, and the creation and ratification of the traditional international law, the majority of the armed clashes has had the character of non-international conflicts with an asymmetric set of actors. Meanwhile, the most affected actor has come to be the civilian population. The purpose of this study is to problematize the protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era. A qualitative method is used in the study in order to analyze the Security Council’s resolutions and mission specific strategies for the protection of civilians in the three UN missions UNMIS, UNAMID and MONUC. The result of the analysis is then problematized with van Creveld’s non-trinitarian theory in order to investigate what problems there are in applying the international humanitarian legal protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era.The aggregated result of the study show that there are problems in applying the traditional international legal protection of civilians in the conflicts of the new era, and that one of the main problems is that the protection only seems to be a subject for the international community.

The purpose of this paper was to examine if UN (United Nations) peacekeeping operations an be used as a tool to promote great powers own interests and enable power maximization for states in the international system. In other words, if great powers really cooperate with each other to promote peace or if they only seek to maximize their own power position. Based on the assumption that the state’s own interests benefit from its commitment to the UN and that it ultimately can increase the state’spower position, it becomes thus important to identify a state’sown interests to contribute to an explanation of how states act within international institutions. The case of China and its actions in African countries through the UN peacekeeping operations MONUSCO and UNMIS are evaluated, to verify if China applies to 4 of the 5 assumptions raised in John Mearsheimer’s theory of offensive realism. This, to illustrate how states attempt to use economic, military and multilateral means to increase their power position in the international system. The conclusion of the analysis is that 3 (possibly 4) of Mearsheimer’s assumptions are encountered by China’s actions. After demonstrating that China applies to some of theas sumptions of offensive realism, this study suggests further research concerning the connection between great powers pursuit of power and its commitment to UN peacekeeping operations.