Changing Norms of Peace-Building? : The Emergence of Mission Integration

Abstract

In the typical scenario of traditional peacekeeping, the UN has acted as an interposition force between the parties to the conflict. Today however, the UN is no longer the sole component in a mission structure inasmuch as today s peace operations are increasingly multidimensional in both design and purpose. As a result, a common realization has come to be that the success of a mission depends on the actors involved pulling their resources together towards a commonly agreed end product. The concept of integrated missions is the UN response to these calls for simultaneously political, military, humanitarian and developmental efforts. However, although most stakeholders agree why mission integration is important, significant challenges remain when it comes to implementation. Against this backdrop, the Norwegian government has initiated a project to take stock of the current debate.

This thesis investigates how the integrated mission concept has moved from an idea towards an institutionalized norm for UN peace operations. Hence the study fulfils a twofold objective. Regarding the empirical achievement, the thesis displays the role a state can play in relation to the ongoing process of UN reform. Concerning the theoretical aim, the study investigates the emergence of an international norm. By reviewing theoretical contributions, I extract what existing IR-theory can tell us about how norms evolve. Based on this, I advance a model on norm emergence which divides the norm life-cycle into three stages consisting of innovation, diffusion and institutionalization. The integrated mission concept is then applied to provide an empirical illustration of this model.