ABSTRACT

The breadth and reach of twenty-first century peace-support operations is unprecedented. There are nearly twice as many blue-helmets deployed in postconflict theatres today than at the nadir of UN missions in the 1990s. Global preoccupation with channelling overseas development assistance to broken and fragile states is on the ascendant. Alarmingly, despite the ratcheting-up of peace-support operations and more targeted aid to the world’s ‘hot spots’, the effectiveness of these interventions is still falling short of expectations. Faced with simmering violence in the Greater Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan, there is comparatively less capability or willingness to invest in areas of lower geo-strategic importance such as Africa or smaller countries in the Caribbean and South Asia. And while policy-makers and practitioners in the security and development sectors seek to improve their coherence and make their aid more effective in war zones around the world, they must also contend with arms availability and armed groups that are frustrating efforts to secure protection.