Media’s Role in Peacebuilding
Michael C. Aho (2004)
Thesis Director: David F. Davis
Committee Members: Kevin Avruch and Amr Abdalla
In many policy studies and academic papers, the “CNN effect” is synonymous with the media. However, little research is focused on the media’s effect on the various elements of peace operations themselves. In analyzing the media’s role in peace operations, this thesis differentiated between peacekeeping and peacebuilding; examined existing theory; and proffered the need for new theory. Suggestions for the future of peacebuilding/media relations were extended. Finally, a case study highlighted components of a media model for the Conceptual Model of Peace Operations.

Levels of Violence in Society and Their Relationship to Peacekeepers’ Presence: The Haitian Experience
James J. Bermudez (2005)
Reader: Allison M. Frendak-Blume
During the 10-year period of September 1994 to September 2004 five different peace operations were active in the Republic of Haiti. This final project explored the correlation between the presence of the operations and levels of violence in Haitian society. How did the population of Haiti fare during time periods when peacekeepers were present on the ground versus their absence? More specifically, how did the presence of a peace operation affect the levels of violence within the country? The levels of violence were measured for the particular 10-year time period through the use of a rating system. The data demonstrated that a correlation existed between the presence of a peace operation and the lowering in the instances of violence in Haiti.

U.S. Military Chains of Command in Different Types of Peace Operations
Wayne M. Chauncey (2005)
Reader: Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This final project analyzed two different U.S. military command and control (C2) structures in two different peace operations—the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and International Forces East Timor (INTERFET). UN and U.S. C2 structures originated with UNTSO. The U.S. focus on UN peace operations shifted from the primary military goal of mission accomplishment to a more political goal of sovereignty and safety of troops with the introduction of the UNTSO Terms of Reference during the Cold War period. The result of this shift remains today. Recent U.S. support to INTERFET, and to the UN Transition Assistance Mission East Timor, proved that the U.S. could still provide a substantial amount of assistance to a UN peace operation without being the lead nation; nor under the direct operational control of a multinational force or UN force. The U.S. has reached a balance of sorts between political concerns and military objectives, highlighted by mission accomplishment. This makes a strong argument for continued C2 relationships. The United States Military Observer Group—Washington organization operates as the C2 node for unarmed missions where the U.S. provides officers under UN operational control. The separate Combatant Commander reporting chain operates as a normal C2 structure node for armed U.S. units, in U.S. missions that are separate from the UN chain of command but have been proven to be very effective without the U.S. as a lead nation. These two main forms of U.S. C2 provide the basis for future support to peace operations.

Legacy of the UN in Eastern Slavonia and Transitional Missions
Christine Coleiro (1999)
Thesis Director: Kevin Avruch
Committee Members: David F. Davis and Connie McNeely
This thesis examined the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja, and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) to assess the mission’s achievements and determine the importance of grassroots issues in transitional missions and their impact on the probability of long-term success. The UNTAES mission came to a close in January 1998 and the reintegration process in the region became the responsibility of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This research was based largely on data gathered during a March 1999 field trip to the mission area. Therefore, UNTAES was viewed through the experience of the OSCE as a follow-on mission, which had to deal with both the successes and failures of its predecessor. Recognizing that many of the issues encountered by UNTAES were not unique, nor new, UNTAES further was analyzed against a background of previous transitional missions.

Principles of Democratic Policing: Peace Operations and Beyond
Yuriy Gavryliuk (2005)
Reader: Robert W. “Bill” Farrand, Amb. (ret.)
In a number of its documents the UN tasks international civilian police to democratize local police forces, generally referring to principles of democratic policing (PDP). While these appear to represent a guidepost or end state for reform, there is little or no international legal agreement on what constitutes democratic policing. This project determined five consensual categories of PDP exist out of 22 suggested in literature: accountability to government, accountability to community, rule of law, respect and protection of human rights, and public service delivery. However consensus is not as broad as some scholars and practitioners assert, and limited by different understandings and interpretations. Next, a set of seven basic democratic notions was made explicit from the literature: democracy is a political, civilian, constitutional order; citizens are the ultimate source of shared power; citizens are equal; public officials are mostly elected by and responsible to the broad public; public officials are sufficiently empowered; elections are free, fair and frequent; pluralism of social entities; and functional autonomy for main branches of government. The 22 PDP categories were compared against the seven notions and 12 were selected as core PDP: accountability to community and government, the rule of law, respect and protection of human rights and dignity, public service delivery, openness and transparency, neutrality and equity, diversity, independent civilian service, limited force, good management, combination of public with private police, and congruency. Three common PDP—defined as compatible with both democratic and undemocratic regimes—also emerged: professionalism, effectiveness and efficiency, and international and internal accountability. Further development of the concept requires inclusion of perspectives of democracy, criminal justice, crime prevention, and policing.

A Comparative Analysis of United Nations Peace Enforcement Policy Creation in Three Distinct Geopolitical Realities
James F. Hanlon (2004)
Thesis Director: Amr Abdalla
Committee Members: Ivan King and Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This thesis compared UN policy formulation regarding response to the conflict in Korea (1950), the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (1990), and lead up to the US/UK invasion of Iraq (2003). Policy debate in each case involved the usage, or consideration, of Chapter VII mandates, commonly referenced as peace enforcement actions. The cases were analyzed against four variables— tertiary issues, enforcement of UN mandates, methods of response, and mission conclusions—with an eye toward determining whether different geopolitical realities—the Cold War for Korea, post-Cold War era for Iraq/Kuwait, or post-September 11, 2001 war on terrorism for US/UK versus Iraq—affected policy debate and formulation at the UN.

“It’s All About the Cocaine”: An Inside Look at Informant Development in the Colombian Army’s Counter-Drug Brigade
Alan D. Hupp (2004)
Reader: David F. Davis
This project examined the increasingly important role that the US Government has played to train and assist the Colombian Army’s Counter-Drug (CD) Brigade. On July 13, 2000, Congress approved funding for Plan Colombia to help counter the spread of coca cultivation and provide significant monetary and military assistance for counter-narcotics (CN) operations. A case study on the trade-offs of informant development and interdiction operations for the CD Brigade was conducted through the personal experience of the writer who spent four months working as an operations planner with the CD Brigade. It was concluded that that support provided by the US government to the CD Brigade, financial and otherwise, contributes to their success. With continued cooperation, it is thought that the CD Brigade can improve its effectiveness and bolster efforts to bring narco-terrorists to justice both in Colombia and the US.

Addressing the Destruction of Cultural Property during Post-Conflict Reconstruction: A Comparison of Two Cases
Victoria Jabara (2004)
Final Project Director: David F. Davis
Committee Members: Kevin Avruch and Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This final project examined post-conflict reconstruction efforts addressing the destruction of cultural property. A comparative case study format was used to analyze these efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cambodia. The research revealed during the conflict phase there was wider-scale destruction committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina as it represented the architectural cleansing among ethnicities. With respect to reconstruction, it was discovered that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had programs in both countries. Most funding for Cambodian projects came from neighboring governments or France. Efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina were implemented by West European neighbors and Saudi Arabia. International and local nongovernmental organizations focused on rebuilding the cultural heritage of Cambodians, whereas many in Bosnia-Herzegovina addressed on the heritage of a particular ethnicity or religion.

Exploring the Relationship between Nongovernmental Organizations and Human Rights Violations in Guatemala: 1980-95
Catalina Lemaitre (2005)
Reader: Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This study explored the relationship between human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and human rights violations committed in Guatemala during a 15-year period. Human rights violations data available from the International Center for Human Rights Research/American Association for the Advancement of Science was analyzed and a new dataset of NGOs working for human rights in Guatemala created. The number of NGOs increased by close to 90 percent—from 17 to 134—from 1980 to 1995. The majority were local organizations serving rural areas, with most providing services to women (99%), men (87%), and children (83%). Two-thirds served all ethnic groups, while one-third targeted indigenous populations. Basic human rights and democratization programs were most common. A moderate negative association was uncovered between the number of NGOs and number of human rights violations—from 3,053 in 1980 to 109 by 1995. Similarly, violation incidents fell from 1,387 in 1980 to 64 in 1995. The data also revealed an increase in the number of times an incident was reported in the press during the study period. The years 1980-84 were the most violent, peaking at 19,750 murders in 1982. Following this period, the number of NGOs increased at a higher rate. As Mason and Krane’s (1989) backlash hypothesis suggests, the data demonstrated high intensity oppression by the Guatemalan state was followed by a period of civic organization. Rather than paralyze the population, gross human rights violations appear to have encouraged Guatemalans to form NGOs to contend with state repression.

A Psychosocial Manual for Emergency Response in Man-Made Disasters; Volume I - Suggestions for Project and Program Officers
Leslie McTyre Gutiérrez (2001)
Thesis Director: David F. Davis
Committee Members: Kevin Avruch and Ivan King
This thesis guided the formulation of a manual to address psychosocial aspects present in man-made large-scale emergencies and contained the majority of procedures that have been practiced in the field over many years. While targeting wounded communities with a series of carefully constructed interventions derived from psychological trauma, studies on violence, research on peacebuilding, participative epidemiology, literature and experience in national development and holistic healing approaches, the manual intended to contribute to ensuring the most smooth and quick transition to normal development activities for victim populations in less-developed countries.

The Role of Police in Peace Operations: The American Experience
Robert M. Perito (2000)
This thesis looked at the US experience with the role of international police forces in peace operations. Specifically it focused on the issue of why the US, as the architect of the Dayton Accords that ended the Bosnian war (1992-95), apparently unknowingly agreed to an international police mission that would not work. The investigation begins with the history of US assistance to foreign police forces dating back to the turn of the 20th century and considered whether the US’ position on creating an international police force for Bosnia was fundamentally influenced by this legacy. The work then contemplated whether lessons learned from more recent peace operations in Panama, Somalia, and Haiti should have convinced US negotiators and policymakers that a strong, international police force would be required to implement the Bosnia peace settlement. Finally focused interviews were conducted to determine what occurred at Dayton during the Bosnian peace negotiations.

The Conceptual Model of Peace Operations as a Framework for Comparing National Doctrines for International Peacekeeping Operations
Paul R. Rickert (2002)
Reader: David F. Davis
This final project generated a method for easy comparison of national military doctrines as they pertain to peacekeeping operations using the Conceptual Model of Peace Operations as an organizational framework. Microsoft Excel provided an interface for individuals and organizations to compare national peacekeeping doctrines on an independent framework. Graphing techniques allow users to view more generalized comparisons of doctrine so conclusions can be more readily drawn with regards to specific areas of coverage, areas of doctrine needing to be more fully or less extensively addressed, and the political rationale that may have been used by the states while developing their respective doctrines. This project can benefit government policymakers on both national and international levels, as well as those members of national militaries as they create, modify, and harmonize their own doctrines for peacekeeping operations.

Peace Operations in Sierra Leone: Emerging Legal Paradigms in Intra-State Armed Conflicts
Alimamy Sesay (2002)
Thesis Director: David F. Davis
Committee Members: Ivan King and Amr Abdalla
This thesis examined the development of legal principles in peace operations with special focus given to humanitarian intervention; neutrality and impartiality; human rights and humanitarian law; and transitional justice. These concepts collectively focus on the protection of human rights, which are frequently and blatantly abused in armed conflicts. Paradigmatically, the protection of human rights is a core component in peace operations. The philosophy of peace operations is fashioned holistically in order to capture and address effectively the complexities of armed conflicts. Thus unlike traditional peacekeeping methods fulfilling their obligations by merely brokering peace agreements, peace operations recognize the additional challenges posed by peacebuilding. From a legal perspective, peace operations may justify intervention in the protection of human rights plus guarantee same on the basis of accountability or transitional justice. But this process is often wrought with legalities and policy considerations that blur the vision of rights protection in internal armed conflicts. The conflict in Sierra Leone has benefited from implementation of legal lessons learned from other peace operations and generated new legal principles. International legal principles applicable to internal armed conflicts are investigated from this perspective.

Strategic Planning in DPKO: A Proposal to Implement the Brahimi Recommendations
Kenneth B. Stoni (2003)
Thesis Director: Kevin Avruch
Committee Members: David F. Davis and Ivan King
Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan chartered the Brahimi Panel to “assess the shortcomings of the existing [peace operations] system and make frank, specific and realistic recommendations for change.” This thesis posited the Panel’s recommendations were valid as individual recommendations—based on the experience and expertise of the panel—but failed to offer a solution set for prioritization and implementation by a third party. This limitation resulted from reliance on an implicit logic framework relating the recommendations to one another and to the UN peace operations system. This work sought to make the Panel’s recommendations more compelling by creating a framework of adequate resolution to enable one to judge whether the recommendation set is complete as it is written. Two methods of construction were examined. A top-down approach used Lund (1996) to relate each recommendation to the construct. This method was found lacking due to ambiguity in matching the recommendations to the concepts and an inability to support all of the recommendations. A bottom-up approach was favored where the concepts identified in the recommendations were decomposed and arranged to ensure complete, logical coverage of the conceptual space into which the recommendations were arranged. Ensuring complete coverage allowed the identification and corrections of holes or gaps in the recommendation set.

A Comparative Study of UN and US Military Civil Affairs Activities
Mandi Tuttle (2005)
Reader: Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This final project explored the similarities and differences between the missions of US military and UN civil affairs officers and their actions in a specific operation – Bosnia. The Department of the Army Field Manual (FM) 41-10 states that the civil affairs mission for the US Army is “to support the commander’s relationship with civil authorities and civilian populace, promote mission legitimacy, and enhance military effectiveness.” This mission is often expressed as “winning the hearts and minds” of the local population. In a peacekeeping operation, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations also employs civil affairs officers to liaise with the local population, parties to the conflict, other components of the mission, local partners and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); provide policy and operational advice and assistance to local authorities, including mediation and negotiation; and ensure accurate and timely reporting. The UN and the US military civil affairs officers both interface with the civilian population in a conflict or post-conflict situation, but they have fundamentally different views as to the purpose of this process. The US military uses civil affairs as a tool in completing a successful military operation. The UN uses civil affairs officers largely to assist the local government in rebuilding the governmental infrastructure to support democratic governance and economic development. Although the two organizations view the purpose of civil affairs differently, in Bosnia they largely used the same activities to accomplish their goals, namely liaising with the local population, ensuring coordination with NGOs and other organizations functioning in the area, facilitating civilian and governmental reconstruction and reporting on local conditions and civil affairs activities.

The Applicability of International Humanitarian Law and the Geneva Conventions to United Nations Peacekeepers
Leigh K. Warren (2005)
Reader: Allison M. Frendak-Blume
This study sought to determine whether the 1999 United Nations announcement that all UN peacekeepers would be subject to the principles and rules of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions had the desired effect of decreasing violations by peacekeepers. The author conducted research using the LexisNexis database and examined six UN peace operations, three of which took place prior to and three which took place after the 1999 announcement. The results, while striking, were inconclusive due to the fact that the post-1999 operations received so much more press coverage, both positive and negative, than the pre-announcement operations. What was clear from the research was that these violations continue to be a problem in UN peace operations.

Instability in Jordan: A Palestinian Threat
Jennifer Tia Wheeler (2004)
Reader: Kevin Avruch
This final project examined the past century’s historical relationship between the TransJordanians and Palestinians in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. From 1948-67, Jordan controlled the West Bank; and following the 1967 War accepted about 1,000,000 Palestinians into its borders. The Jordanian government has attempted to integrate the Palestinians by offering citizenship, but at the same time it has protected its own national identity, and that of the monarchy, by favoring TransJordanians. Many Palestinians have resisted integration as they ultimately seek to return to Palestine. They want full rights and power within Jordan, when they do not even consider it their “home.” The feelings and actions by both parties have threatened the stability of the Jordanian monarchy. The culmination of violence was “Black September” 1971, when the conflict between the two groups brought the nation to civil war. In 2000, Israeli leader Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem instigated the second Intifada. Palestinians in Jordan organized demonstrations to support their people in the West Bank and Gaza. The Jordanian government, fearful of growing Palestinian power, reacted quickly and harshly to control the situation. The Al Aqsa Intifada resurfaced the distrust and disdain between the two groups.