The UN’s Role in Peace and Security: Phoenix or Walking Dead?

The role of the United Nations (UN) in maintaining international peace and security is increasingly constrained by geopolitical shifts. Once bolstered by the liberal international order, the UN’s role in conflict management is currently more questioned. How do changes in world politics affect the implementation and outcomes of UN peace missions? At the theoretical level, we argue that changes in the international system manifest in an increasing plurality of actors with diverging of interests. We posit that it will impact UN peace missions’ outcomes through two mechanisms: declining uniformity of conflict resolution approaches and increasing opportunities for the belligerents in forum shopping. By in-depth examining six peace missions (i.e. peacekeeping and political missions) deployed after 2010 in DRC Congo, South Sudan, Mali, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, we demonstrate that these mechanisms determine whether UN peace missions are terminated, sidelined, or survive. We conclude by discussing the implications of these findings for the future of UN peace missions and the UN’s overarching role in international peace and security.