ABSTRACT
This study began with an examination of three discrete bodies of literature dealing with the issue areas of ethnicity/ethnic conflict, state-building, and UN peacekeeping. It quickly became apparent that while it may have been possible to compartmentalize these subject matters during the Cold War, the interaction between the three sets of phenomena in the post-Cold War era had rendered this approach obsolete. Increasing ethnic identification and conflict was linked to both the collapse of states and the creation of new states. In addition, these developments were occurring at a moment when the role of the UN was undergoing significant change. As a result of the changed dynamics within the Security Council following the conclusion of the Cold War, the organization was either engaging in, or authorizing, the use of more muscular and intrusive forms of intervention to stop internal conflicts than generally had been the case in the past. Under the circumstances, it was argued that a new paradigm designed to integrate these heretofore disparate occurrences would be necessary. Accordingly, the primary goal has been to fill this gap in the literature. As a result, a theoretical framework was developed to explain how these three sets of phenomena fit together. This, in turn, was tested against a case study which incorporated all of the elements described above-that of Iraq in the aftermath of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
