Master Thesis Defense: Firuze Simay Sezgin

Speed, Size And Composition Of The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations’ Initial Deployments

Firuze Simay Sezgin
Conflict Analysis and Resolution, M.Sc. Thesis, 2015

Thesis Jury
Kerim Can Kavaklı (Thesis Supervisor), Emre Hatipoğlu, Itır Toksöz, Hasret Dikici Bilgin(Substitute Jury)

Date &Time: June,8th, 2015 – 14:00

Place: FASS 2034

Abstract

The first few months of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations are critical stages for achieving stable peace, and the speed, size, and composition of the initial deployments have a vital importance for the UN to signal its commitment to the mission. This thesis is the first systematic analysis on the factors that determine the speed of forming resolutions and deployments, initial contribution levels, and composition of the UN peacekeeping operations.

We collected original data on the UN peacekeeping operations. We tested hypotheses drawn from Realist and Liberal theories of international relations. We find that self-interest of the contributing countries do not increase the contribution rates or accelerate the deployment process, but the conflicts that pose a threat to international security are more likely to receive quicker deployments.

For the liberal accounts, we find that democracies contribute more than non-democracies. Recipient countries with long-standing intense conflicts are more likely to receive slower formed resolutions and slower deployments with lower participation rates. However, as a new measure to the literature, if a recipient country experiences a spike in deaths prior to the establishment of the operation, then this humanitarian crisis leads democracies to contribute more with a prompt deployment from all the contributing countries.

As a geographical factor, contributions to the operations decrease with the increase in distance between contributor and recipient countries. Lastly, we find that the operations established after the Brahimi Report (2000) are more likely to receive faster formed resolutions and increased initial contributions mainly from non-democracies with prompt deployments.