ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some potentially controversial actions of Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG), asking whether controversial actions or practices can reveal how authority is composed in the United Nations (UN) system and the roles of SRSGs in the norm change processes of that system. Asking whether SRSGs can mediate between conflicting norms as norm arbitrators, the chapter examines controversial decisions where there were no clear directions from UN HQ in New York or where several principles for peacekeeping clashed with each other or with instructions from headquarters. Peacekeeping operates according to three core traditional principles: impartiality, consent of the parties, and non-use of force. Individual action can form the foundation for norm change, as this chapter will show. It will show that there may be room for interpretation of norms between center and periphery and will expand our understanding of the role of practices in UN peacekeeping.
