ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on three cases studies. In Kosovo, the mission was asked to support a "state" whose sovereignty remains contested, not just by a party to the conflict but also by two permanent members of the UN Security Council. In Timor-Leste, peacekeepers were tasked with building a state virtually from scratch, with no recognized "government". In South Sudan, the UN mission was supporting the establishment of a state through a vast geographical area with almost no physical infrastructure. The chapter examines each case study along three dimensions: first, an overview of the state of affairs that the UN peacekeeping operation entered, both the international constellation and on the ground; second, the mandate of the UN mission, what is new and what challenges the mandate raises for the peacekeeping doctrine; and third, the implementation of the mandate—how the evolving situation on the ground and the missions' approaches to their mandates challenge the doctrine.
