Although UN peace operations began with unarmed observer missions in 1948–1949, the first armed force—the UN Emergency Force (UNEF)—was deployed in 1956 due to the Suez crisis. Scholars and practitioners have since interpreted the UN Secretariat’s 1958 study of that experience, called the Summary Study, as a foundational text in the history of UN peacekeeping because it supposedly codified the key principles of impartiality, nonuse of force, and consent. But much of the Summary Study’s origin story is inaccurate or unknown. By explaining Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld’s intentions for the study, as well as how those intentions changed, this article argues that far from “codifying” foundational principles, the Summary Study did the opposite: it ensured that future peacekeeping operations would continue on an ad hoc, flexible basis that permitted the Secretary-General and Member States to exercise a wide range of discretion in determining how to conduct future operations.
No abstract
No abstract
This introduction examines recent historiographical trends in the writing of human rights history and military histories of counterinsurgency. Much of the current human rights historiography has focused on finding the origins of contemporary human rights movements rather than engaging with the ways in which human rights activists thought of themselves at the time. Secondly, the introduction addresses the myths of supposedly “humane” British counterinsurgency methods such as the use of minimum force, winning hearts and minds, and obeying the rule of law. But during the wars in Cyprus, Aden, and Northern Ireland, human rights activists tried to expose the brutality and repression of British counterinsurgency to public scrutiny.
The conclusion begins by surveying the legacies of human rights activism during the Northern Ireland Troubles and reviews the book’s arguments regarding the Cyprus and Aden emergencies. Next, this section asserts that the consistent pattern of thwarting activism and the frequent circulation of officials from one campaign to the next suggests that, like torture, the ability to hide abuses from public scrutiny emerged as a key, but unspoken, element of British counterinsurgency during the era of decolonization. Finally, the conclusion addresses the contemporary relationship between counterinsurgency warfare and human rights—including the influence of the UK Human Rights Act and the importance of strategic narratives—during conflicts associated with the post-9/11 “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.