Understanding Peacekeeping. Alex J. Bellamy

2.5 Partnership peacekeeping

      ‘Partnership peacekeeping’ was a term coined by Norrie MacQueen (2006) to refer to institutional collaboration between different actors to deliver effective peace operations on the ground. It has become much more frequent for several reasons.

      First of all, partnerships have emerged because there is widespread recognition that no single organization or actor can cope alone with the multiple challenges to international peace and security. In sum, partnerships are a necessity, not a luxury.

      Second, although the UN remains the predominant actor in the field of peacekeeping, it has neither a legal monopoly on conducting peace operations nor a practical monopoly on wisdom and innovation on this issue. Partnerships have therefore emerged because of a convergence of interests or goals between these other actors and the UN. Most of the time, most of these actors saw some benefit in seeking authorization for, or recognition of, their activities from the UN Security Council.

      A third factor encouraging more partnerships between the UN and regional arrangements is the vague terminology of Chapter VIII of the UN Charter. Part of the debate about partnerships in contemporary peace operations grows out of the need to define what a strategic partnership between the UN and a regional arrangement might look like, particularly when the use of force is contemplated as part of a peace operation.

Dynamics in Africa have added a fourth reason for more partnership peacekeeping. For a variety of reasons related to war, underdevelopment and the US-led ‘war on terror’, Africa has hosted by far the most peace operations of any of the world’s regions. This has stimulated a specific series of partnerships: between the African Union and the continent’s regional economic communities (RECs); between these African organizations and the UN; and between African organizations, the UN and various external actors, most notably the EU, the US, France and the UK. The key driver here was that the African organizations lacked the financial and material capabilities to deploy and sustain their operations in the field and hence required external assistance. For their parts, these key external actors supported the ‘African solutions to African problems’ slogan and were therefore happy to assist if it meant they were able to deploy fewer of their own personnel.

      A fifth reason for the growth in partnership peacekeeping was the different comparative advantages and weaknesses of the multiple peacekeeping actors, which made a division of labour attractive. While some actors preferred to provide personnel, others were more comfortable making financial contributions, while yet others provided enablers, training and equipment for the troop- and police-contributing countries (TCCs and PCCs) concerned. Partnerships thus offered a way to develop pragmatic solutions that built on the comparative advantages of each institution.

      Finally, in a more negative sense, partnerships sometimes emerged because the actors involved in responding to a particular crisis were in competition over the right to exercise political leadership and authority. Partnerships were thus sometimes a result of diplomatic compromise when there were conflicting interests and objectives. In this scenario, partnerships developed between actors with divergent ideas about the most appropriate solutions and/or the most appropriate and legitimate instruments that should be used in a particular theatre.

The net result of all this activity has been five broad types of partnership peacekeeping (figure 2.5). First, there is simple cooperation, wherein different actors collaborate in the same theatre but without establishing an official or formal relationship.