Global demand for peacekeeping is growing, especially in Africa. The United
Nations has traditionally been at the forefront of developing peacekeeping
theory and practice, and remains the primary operational agency for
peacekeeping in Africa. But increasing emphasis is being placed on the African
Union to assume greater responsibility for peacekeeping on the continent.
The AU is still comparatively new and is in the process of developing its peace
and security architecture. Over the past decade, the international community
has been supporting African peacekeeping, both to build AU capacity and to
provide direct operational support. In 2005 the international community
agreed a collective ¿responsibility to protect¿ vulnerable civilians threatened by
gross violations of their human rights. And civilian protection is increasingly
included in the mandates of peacekeeping missions. Within the context of
contemporary complex, multidimensional peacekeeping (¿peace support¿),
civilian protection is not an exclusive operational objective, but is rather one
of a number of mandated tasks aimed at establishing more sustainable
4
security as part of a broader peacebuilding goal. The AU has embraced the
responsibility to protect principle, adopting a constitutional commitment to
protect the rights of vulnerable civilians, including through peacekeeping
interventions if necessary. But how capable is the AU in practice to deliver
effective peacekeeping to protect civilians? And how appropriate is
international support to help realise this ambition?
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/5497 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Ramsbotham, Alexander |
| Contributors | Not named |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Department of Peace Studies |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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