Peacekeeping Dividends and Post-conflict Development (Dividends)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Essex
Department Name: Government
Abstract
This project breaks new ground in examining peacekeeping dividends across a broad set of
outcomes, evaluating policies that best leverage positive externalities of peacekeeping, bridging
research on short-term peacekeeping and long-term peacebuilding objectives and large-N
comparative and case studies. It will transform our understanding of post-conflict reconstruction
and long-term sustainable development. Building on my previous work showing how United
Nations peacekeeping and the successful provision of security can have broader dividends, with
improvements in maternal health and education in Africa, I will examine if peacekeeping efforts
scale and if we can discern broader dividends on post-conflict reconstruction, including successful
state-building. I conceptualise peacekeeping dividends as outcomes exceeding expected or
projected baselines - contrasting with conflict traps, where the cost of conflict leads to outcomes
that remain below expected trajectories. The project develops an new systematic Peace Dividend
Matrix, where observed and expected outcomes are compared across three dimensions: 1) human
development; 2) political inclusion and gender equality; 3) governmental capacity. This ambitious
research project looks beyond traditional security objectives, relating the quality of peace and
development to changes in security. It develops generalisable insights beyond UN peacekeeping,
using rigorous methodologies, and considering future trends. Whereas the end of the Cold War led
to a surge of UN peacekeeping missions, the current "new" Cold War between the permanent five
UN Security Council members leaves less scope for UN peacekeeping. I start with evidence from
the UN and examine to what extent the causal mechanisms also apply to other organisations
engaging in peacekeeping, i.e. the European Union and the African Union. The analyses combine
comparative analyses of historical data, case studies, and simulations of future scenarios.
outcomes, evaluating policies that best leverage positive externalities of peacekeeping, bridging
research on short-term peacekeeping and long-term peacebuilding objectives and large-N
comparative and case studies. It will transform our understanding of post-conflict reconstruction
and long-term sustainable development. Building on my previous work showing how United
Nations peacekeeping and the successful provision of security can have broader dividends, with
improvements in maternal health and education in Africa, I will examine if peacekeeping efforts
scale and if we can discern broader dividends on post-conflict reconstruction, including successful
state-building. I conceptualise peacekeeping dividends as outcomes exceeding expected or
projected baselines - contrasting with conflict traps, where the cost of conflict leads to outcomes
that remain below expected trajectories. The project develops an new systematic Peace Dividend
Matrix, where observed and expected outcomes are compared across three dimensions: 1) human
development; 2) political inclusion and gender equality; 3) governmental capacity. This ambitious
research project looks beyond traditional security objectives, relating the quality of peace and
development to changes in security. It develops generalisable insights beyond UN peacekeeping,
using rigorous methodologies, and considering future trends. Whereas the end of the Cold War led
to a surge of UN peacekeeping missions, the current "new" Cold War between the permanent five
UN Security Council members leaves less scope for UN peacekeeping. I start with evidence from
the UN and examine to what extent the causal mechanisms also apply to other organisations
engaging in peacekeeping, i.e. the European Union and the African Union. The analyses combine
comparative analyses of historical data, case studies, and simulations of future scenarios.
