Stabilization and Human Security in UN Peace Operations

“This book examines the relationship between contemporary UN stabilization mandates and the non-legal concept of ‘human security’. Human security aims to provide a bottom-up and localised perspective and set of priorities to address insecurity. Despite this, the mobilisation of the human security discourse is an underexplored area of research. The book is divided into three sections. The first section outlines the importance of stabilization as an emerging area of peacekeeping practice and outlines the analytical framework of human security to be used in the research. The second section applies the analytical framework to three case studies: the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA); and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The case studies explore five facets of human security: where the mission has sought to carry out its activities in line with the human rights and the rule of law; where space is provided to identify the vital core; where vulnerabilities are identified and building resilience has been attempted; what aspects of protection are focused on by the mission; and if individuals are empowered to act on their own behalf and implement solutions to security threats. The third section expounds the incompatibility of the two competing sides of stabilization and draws wider conclusions on how best to utilise the human security concept. The book will be a valuable resource for academics, policymakers and practitioners working on UN peacekeeping generally, and those specifically looking at stabilization, from international relations, international law, peace and conflict studies, security studies and human rights”–