As one of Britain's landmark constitutional reforms, the 1832 Reform Act has attracted considerable historical attention. However, only cursory notice has been paid to the extensive work completed by ...the 1831–2 boundary commission to reform the nation's parliamentary boundaries. Drawing on previously unused archival material, this article provides the first sustained analysis of the boundary reforms that took place in England's ancient boroughs in 1832, revealing the significance of Thomas Drummond, a previously obscure royal engineer and chair of the English and Welsh boundary commission, to the ‘Great Reform Act’. As well as revealing the wider importance of parliamentary boundaries to the passage of reform by 1832, Drummond and the boundary commission established significant precedents for the expansion of the reformed British state and future parliamentary reform.
The assumption that peacekeeping requires soldiers carrying weapons is widespread; 35 years of successful peacekeeping by unarmed civilians is often overlooked. The original definition of ...peacekeeping is being confused with peace enforcement and peace operations. Limited interest has led to underfunding of unarmed civilian peacekeeping (UCP) with fewer resources for both study and praxis. Marginalization of civilian peacekeeping has restricted the options for complex interventions; this reduced vision of peacekeeping is open to challenge in the light of evidence from the field. This paper first examines what is meant by peacekeeping and UCP. The relationship of UCP to nonviolence, feminism, and peace studies is considered. The constraints and limits of peacekeeping by armed military personnel during, or after, violent conflict are outlined. The core tasks of peacekeeping are analysed, and evidence from the field is presented to show that these core tasks can be (and have been) successfully undertaken by unarmed civilians for three decades, world-wide. The argument that armed military personnel are necessary, even essential, for peacekeeping is not supported by the evidence of civilian success in undertaking the core tasks. The paper ends with conclusions and a call for a new paradigm for peacekeeping.
The resolution on the "Permanent Neutrality of Turkmenistan" adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 12, 1995 brought about Turkmenistan's official recognition as a neutral state by the world ...community and gave the country's foreign policy and diplomatic work additional impetus. Turkmenistan's policy of permanent neutrality has a peacekeeping dimension; it places great importance on preventive diplomacy i.e., diplomatic actions aimed at preventing disagreements between parties from arising and preventing existing differences from escalating into conflict, and limiting the spread of an already existing conflict. The experience of the development of neutral Turkmenistan during its years of independence has convincingly shown that the Turkmen model of neutrality supports Turkmenistan's long-term national interests, and has become an effective tool for mutual understanding and cooperation among peoples. The Resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly in February 2017, proclaiming December 12 as the "International Day of Neutrality" was another significant contribution of Turkmenistan's neutral foreign policy and diplomacy to the global strengthening of peace, security and sustainable development. Lastly, the accession of Turkmenistan to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) as an observer at the 8th Summit of Organization of Turkic States in November 2021 is another important step for the foreign policy framework of this Turkic-speaking country, which aims to contribute to sustainable development in its region. Keywords Turkmenistan, positive neutrality, preventive diplomacy, Organization of Turkic States, UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia. Introduction
For nearly 20 years, the United Nations (UN) has acknowledged the gendered aspects of conflict and accepts that violent conflict disproportionately affects women and girls and intensifies ...pre-existing gender inequalities and discrimination (Promoting Women, Peace and Security, 2018). Women are also active agents of peace in armed conflict ... Recognising and integrating the different understanding, experiences, and capabilities of women into all aspects of UN peacekeeping operations-assuring a gender perspective-is essential for the success of UN peacekeeping efforts and sustaining peace (Department of Peacekeeping Operations, 2018).
In the last 20 years the demand for peacekeeping operations has significantly increased, and today there are close to 1 million peacekeepers worldwide. The aim of this qualitative study was to extend ...past research on peacekeeping by investigating the psychological experiences of Italian peacekeepers during their missions in war contexts. Thirty male peacekeepers aged 28-41 were recruited and interviewed. A thematic analysis was carried out and involved line-by-line coding with codes deriving from narratives. Five major themes emerged: the motivations to participate in an operation; the group as a buffer against combat-related stress; the hardest aspects of the experience; coping strategies toward the mission, perceived as a life-or-death experience; and benefits and negative consequences after going back home. The relevance of these issues is discussed. Findings can help in developing training and support programs tailored at operational demands that are distinctive for this kind of high-stress occupation.
Public Significance Statement
The in-depth examination of interviews employed in this study has enabled an exploration of male peacekeepers' experiences and the data from this study may provide useful considerations for professionals working in the field of peacekeeping. These insights can be used to develop training and support programs tailored at operational demands that are distinctive for high-stress occupations.
Periods of conflict erode trust between national and local authorities and the people they govern, a trust that needs to be re-established. As peace operations are undertaken by inter-governmental ...bodies that tend to be inherently state-centric, however, peace operations need to go beyond merely supporting the extension of state-authority and strengthen inclusive state-society relations by supporting and facilitating inclusive processes that can address social cohesion, inequalities and marginalization. In order to support the emergence of resilient societies, these operations must help states and their societies to develop inclusive processes that enable participatory and responsive state institutions that are closely connected to the social institutions in the communities they serve. Furthermore, peace operations are often perceived as being partial to the party in government, while the government of the day often discourages peace operations from engaging with civil society. In the first part of this paper we explain why strengthening inclusive state-society relations is an important issue to address when peace operations are mandated to foster peace processes that can resist relapse. The second half of the paper shifts the attention to how peace operations can enhance and support state-society relations. In addition to monitoring the effect peace operations have on state institutions, operations should monitor how people experience the role and impact of peace operations. This can be assessed in a number of ways, including by involving representative advisory groups from civil society and local communities in assessments, analysis, planning, implementation and evaluation, so as to ensure continuous direct input and feedback from the society on the work of the peace operation.
Three critical trends in the evolving practice of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa have undermined the usefulness of the common conceptual dichotomy between regional peacekeeping and ...UN/global peacekeeping. First, sub-Saharan African states have distanced themselves from long-term autonomous regional peacekeeping, and currently favour explicitly interim missions that are a prelude rather than an alternative to UN peacekeeping. Second, the analytically clear line between regional peacekeeping and the separate sub-Saharan African tradition of solidarity deployments (i.e. military support of embattled governments) has in practice become blurred, and the regional vs global peacekeeping dichotomy not only fails to acknowledge this trend but helps to obscure it. Finally, sub-Saharan African states are increasingly addressing regional conflicts by participating in UN operations deployed in the region. UN peacekeeping has thus emerged as a preferred form of regional peacekeeping in sub-Saharan Africa.
Background The United Nations (UN) Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) comprises the largest and longest serving peacekeeping operation to date. Since the ...launch of the mission in 1999, sexual relations between UN peacekeepers and the local population regularly occur; some resulting in children being conceived. Reports have indicated that women and girls bearing children from such relations face difficult socio-economic realities. The present study is the first to explore the situation of peacekeeper fathered children (PKFC) through a qualitative analysis that includes interview material from mothers and child participants. Methods The article uses theories from stigma research to illustrate how children conceived through sexual relations with UN peacekeepers integrate into social networks. We conducted a case study of mothers and their PKFC at different sites of UN peacekeeping (UNPK) in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Based on 95 in-depth interviews held in 2018, a thematic qualitative analysis examined experiences of stigma and discrimination. In order to understand the challenges of mothers and children from a transgenerational perspective, we evaluated perceptions of rejection rooted in the mother-child relationship. Results Of the mothers and children surveyed, a large majority struggled with stigmatizing behaviour by family and/or community members. PKFC perceived their discrimination to be based upon their mixed ethnicity, fatherlessness, illegitimacy at birth, as well as a lack of resources and opportunity. Mothers most often attributed their stigma to economic deprivation, extra-marital sexual relations, single parenting and being associated with UNPK. Parallels in the experiences of mothers and children suggest a bi-directional transmission of status loss and stigma between generations. Conclusions This is the first empirical study to compare the situation of PKFC and their mothers in any country of UNPK deployment. The findings highlight multiple burdens that affect their daily lives and illustrate an interplay between drivers of stigmatization for mothers and children. The overarching needs identified are financial, and these call for action regarding policies and programmes that provide resources to those concerned. The results further demonstrate the need for psychosocial support that considers transgenerational dynamics and both mothers and children as core addressees of assistance. Keywords: Stigma, Children Born of War, United Nations, Peacekeeping, Sexual Misconduct, Democratic Republic of Congo, Transgenerational
There is no legal instrument specifically designing peacekeeping operations. These operations form part of what legal science calls the subsidiary bodies of international organisations and are not ...expressly provided for in their founding charters - with the exception, in the case of the EU, of the Treaty of Lisbon. Any definition of what PKOs are must be established on an ad hoc basis and based on practice. Without disparaging other international institutions, it is the United Nations, by its universal nature, that can and must harmonise any efforts to achieve such peacekeeping and international security. However, the United Nations cannot assume a monopoly of international peacekeeping and security. For this reason, this book analyses the peacekeeping activities of the regional organisations, such as the EU, OSCE, NATO, or any other. Diverse and specific local experiences have been very useful for peacekeeping. This has been the case with the new functions taken on by PKOs such as protection of the cultural heritage, participation of the World Bank, the new war on terrorism, etc., all of which require new analyses that can be included in a more functional context. Any measures adopted in peacekeeping missions must take gender into account, given its enormous impact and it is therefore essential to examine this issue. These aspects are included in the book. The study of the impact peacekeeping operations have on human rights, on the financial conditions of the people living in the places to which peacekeepers are deployed, on child protection, etc. are others issues covered within this book.
Tomori shows that west Africa was totally unprepared for the outbreak of Ebola virus disease. 1 The world community has the moral responsibility to make African and other developing countries better ...prepared for future outbreaks.
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