The Doug Noll Show

Doug’s guest is James Miskel, Ph.D., an international security expert working in the field of post-conflict peacemaking and peacebuilidng. Jim describes the evolution of international peacemaking as it evolved from the 1970s forward In the 1970s, most of the conflicts were between adjoining nations. Typically, the UN would broker a ceasefire and send in a multinational peacekeeping force to secure the borders of the two countries. The important element was that the peacekeeping force was present with the mutual consent of the warring parties. The primary role of the peacekeeping force was to assure that th terms of the ceasefire were maintained by all sides.

In the 1990s, peacekeeping evolved into nation building. The UN and other international groups began to assist war-torn countries to re-establish a civil society through the rule of law, civil administration of government, and government service infrastructure. In the mid-1990s, international peace missions become actively involved in the affairs of countries experiencing civil war or insurrection. Thus, the scope of peacekeeping and peace building expanded dramatically.

Jim describes some of the 16 current peacekeeping missions in place around the world. The largest peacekeeping force, 17,000 strong, is active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In total, there are 75,000 soldiers from the UN, NATO, the EU, and the African Union acting as peacekeepers around the world.

Much of the civil wars and civil insurrections of the past 20 years, particularly in Africa, have been caused by unscrupulous leaders who have stirred up tribal and clan hatreds. In many cases, these animosities did not exist beforehand. These have been difficult situations because civil society has been nearly destroyed. Thus, post-conflict reconstruction is a major focus of peace building. The situations are additionally challenging because the new government typically has little expertise in the rule of law, the judiciairy is non-existent, and therefore, contract and property rights are nonexistent. Without assurances of contract and property rights, foreign investors are unwilling to enter post-conflict countries. And, Jim says, without critical foreign investment, local economies cannot grow.

Jim says that the great danger of the 21st century may be in the mega-cities developing in near Asia. Some urban populations are nearing 15 to 20 million people. Most of the population growth is coming from migration, not from births. The cities themselves are unable to provide basic infrastructure services such as law enforcement, sanitation, and education. This forces the national governments to focus on the urban problems. The outlying regions are ignored, causing further lack of economic and civic development. As the regional and national governments fail to meet the needs of the urban citizens, the seed for further civil war, insurrection, terrorism, and unrest will be planted.