ABSTRACT
This article covers the Dutch role in UN peacekeeping. The Netherlands has a long tradition of political and military involvement in UN peacekeeping. Like other European countries, its participation decreased considerably from the end of the 1990s onwards. The Dutch only ‘returned’ in 2014 when they delivered a substantial number of troops for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) in Mali. This article starts with putting Dutch participation in UN peacekeeping into an historical context. It continues with an analysis of the reasons for withdrawal and subsequently explores the obstacles and opportunities for a structural return. The article argues that the decision to participate in MINUSMA is mainly explained by national interests and domestic factors. More in particular, government coalition politics explains why the Netherlands sent troops to Mali. In that sense, the Dutch ‘return to UN peacekeeping’ was not part of a structural change in policy-making, but depended for a large part on domestic political dynamics.
