The 2015 UN High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations (HIPPO) stressed two major themes that Secretary-General António Guterres continues to focus on: first, the primacy of politics in peacekeeping, which he raised in his September 2017 remarks at the Security Council open debate on peacekeeping; and second, the core obligation of peacekeepers and the entire UN to protect civilians, a continuous theme of his tenure.
Yet protecting civilians and pursuing political strategies, the defining tasks of modern peacekeeping, have frequently been in tension. Critics argue that peace operations in the last two decades have too often been tools of last resort, deployed to conflicts with no viable political process and serving as stop-gap measures rather than strategic steps toward a political solution. This is particularly evident in missions whose mandate to protect has been prioritized the absence of a clear political vision to address the conflict. For example, in South Sudan, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the mission’s political role may seem elusive, while its protection goals can appear as an operational imperative and a clear priority. As a consequence, POC may capture most of the attention and resources, sometimes at the expense of the political effectiveness of the mission.
It should be noted that “the primacy of politics” and “political strategies” are terms that are not particularly well explored. Policymakers and practitioners frequently use the term “political” to mean “strategic” or in reference to the “big picture” (as opposed to “technical” or in reference to the detail of programs); focused on high-level engagement (rather than to the “local” work of civil affairs sections in peace operations or civil society); or interest-driven rather than principle-driven (when compared to humanitarian work, for example). The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is currently working to better clarify the idea and importance of political strategies writ large, and this paper does not seek to preempt that work. It does, however, accept that while the idea of a “political strategy” is contested, it remains a real and important component of mission work that is repeatedly contrasted with the protection of civilians mandate.