Just How Humanitarian are Interventions? Peacekeeping and the Prevention of Civilian Killings during and after Civil Wars

Abstract

Does the presence of a peacekeeping force reduce violence against civilians during or after civil war? Does it matter whether that peacekeeping force acts under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) or a regional security organization? Are observer, traditional peacekeeping, multidimensional, and enforcement missions equally effective or does mandate affect levels of violence? Much ink has been spilled on related questions in the peacekeeping literature, but almost all existing research has focused on whether peacekeeping operations (PKOs) help maintain peace after civil wars, concentrated on the resumption of civil war between factions, and either focused entirely on UN PKOs or conflated UN with non-UN-led operations.