The ability to stabilize a conflict-ridden region has proven challenging not only for the United States, but also the United Nations. The prime examples are Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, but these are nations that went from invasion and civil war into a protracted conflict with international involvement. In places like Africa, there is obviously still conflict, and some would consider it protracted conflict, but the solutions provided fall much more in the peacebuilding camp, rather than the warfighting camp. There are approaches to irregular warfare and peacebuilding that may be able to work in unison to form a new approach to peacebuilding.

The intent behind warfare is obviously much different than the intent behind peacebuilding. If you look at the underlying ideology of warfighting, the use of coercion to influence or exert power is the main approach.[1]However, if you look at peacebuilding, the underlying ideology revolves around deterrence.[2]

The first group of scholars that must be looked at are associated with warfighting. Specifically, within the realm of warfighting, I will be looking at Irregular Warfare. Irregular Warfare as defined by the Department of Defense is, “A violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations. IW favors indirect and asymmetric approaches, though it may employ the full range of military and other capabilities, in order to erode an adversary’s power, influence, and will.”[3]

-Scholars in this group emphasize counterinsurgency, irregular warfare, and hybrid warfare in explaining puzzles like mine.[4][5]

-The predominant methodology used by this group of scholars is small-n case study comparisons. I have found this to be the case whether they are analyzing current conflicts, or looking at past conflicts.

-The strategy of influencing government, population, and military from the DOD joint operating concept could apply to the framework that I eventually build.[6]

-The main disagreement I see is in framing 21^stcentury warfare, specifically whether it is strictly in the irregular warfare camp, or a mix of different warfare approaches.[7]

     The second group of scholars represented are from the peacebuilding field. Specifically, within peacebuilding, I will be looking at peacekeeping. Peacekeeping is defined by the United Nations as, “Peacekeeping is a technique designed to preserve the peace, however fragile, where fighting has been halted, and to assist in implementing agreements achieved by the peacemakers.”[8]

-Scholars in this group emphasize the need for field focus and context awareness.[9]

-I found that scholars don’t commonly use a specific methodologies in this field.

-I think that the challenge of integration in the United Nations structure could potentially apply to my research.[10]

-There is an agreement with this group that armed solutions are not viable.[11]

Comparing the attributes of the peace building field to the attributes of the irregular warfare field could possibly shine the light on variables that peacekeeping has not considered when entering a conflict zone, or post conflict zone. My hope is that I can operationalize variables that can assist the peacekeeping field. I have not encountered scholarship that has combined the approaches to irregular warfare with the approaches of peacekeeping. I understand that there are generals, and diplomatics that look at these problem sets.

These problem sets a state looks at are usually looked at through lenses that have separate variables; however, they are concentric circles. I expect to find variables that overlap in each. As my research continues, I hope to be able to find variables that can assist in addressing issues that the peacekeeping field encounters. Force Intervention Brigades can learn from irregular warfare. My goal is to find data that supports possible courses of action that are more comprehensive in nature. A robust approach to peacekeeping that considers more of the field of the conflict could ensure a more stable peace.

Notes

[1]Andreas, Peter, and Richard Price. “From War Fighting to Crime Fighting: Transforming the American National Security State.” International Studies Review 3, no. 3 (2001): 31-52. http://www.jstor.org.proxyau.wrlc.org/stable/3186241.

[2]Bertram, Eva. “Reinventing Governments: The Promise and Perils of United Nations Peace Building.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 39, no. 3 (1995): 387-418. http://www.jstor.org.proxyau.wrlc.org/stable/174574.

[3]Department of Defense, United States of America. “Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept.” Department of Defense, pp. 2, 2007, https://fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/iw-joc.pdf.

[4]Paul B. Rich. (2015) The Political Impossibility of Modern Counterinsurgency. Small Wars & Insurgencies 26:6, pages 977-983.

[5]Appleget,Jeffrey,  Curtis Blais, and Michael Jaye. “Best practices for US Department of Defense model validation: lessons learned from irregular warfare models. “The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation.”Vol 10, Issue 4, pp. 395 – 410, 2013. https://doi-org.proxyau.wrlc.org/10.1177%2F1548512913482233.

[6]Department of Defense, United States of America. “Irregular Warfare Joint Operating Concept.”

[7]Scheipers, Sibylle. “Counterinsurgency or irregular warfare? Historiography and the study of ‘small wars.’” Small Wars & Insurgencies 25, no. 5-6 (n.d.): 879–899.

[8]United Nations. “United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines.” United Nations, pp.18, 2010. https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/capstone_eng_0.pdf.

[9]Stamnes, Eli, and Osland, Kari. Synthesis Report: Reviewing UN Peace Operations, the UN Peacebuilding Architecture and the Implementation of UNSCR 1325. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, n.d. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1873243983/?pq-origsite=primo.

[10]Campbell, Susanna P., and Kaspersen, Anja T. “The UN’s Reforms: Confronting Integration Barriers.” International Peacekeeping 15, no. 4 (n.d.): 470–485.

[11]Cortright, David. “THE POWER OF PEACEBUILDING.” Sojourners Magazine 44, no. 4 (n.d.): 18–19. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1664463038/.