Coordinating Peacekeeping in Mali
“A red card holder will not be necessary if I do my job correctly!” Colonel Joost de Wolf has been working in the Netherlands Marine Corps for 30 years. On Thursday 17 April… Continue reading
Category Archive: Humanitarian Intervention
Who is MINUSMA fighting?
“If it was easy, they would not have asked us!” Colonel Joost de Wolf has been working in the Netherlands Marine Corps for 30 years. On Thursday 17 April he was sent to… Continue reading
Dutch peacekeepers in Gao, Mali
“If you keep Mali as such, it will turn into a black hole – a country where jihadists can do whatever they like. One way or another, these people will come to Europe… Continue reading
The UN in Mali: Colonel de Wolf on the conflict, the Tuareg and MINUSMA’s role
“MINUSMA is waiting for more enablers – technologically advanced military forces – before they can move up to Kidal. After the Dutch and the Swedes have arrived, we can move up to Kidal… Continue reading
Russian diplomacy and the need of talking with Assad
Dan Smith (Secretary General of International Alert) reflects on the Russian diplomacy around the Syrian crisis. Mr Smith urges Western leaders to talk with Iran, Russia and Assad. On September 13th, Dan Smith (Secretary General… Continue reading
On Blue Helmets and Cynicism, Linda Polman on UN Peace Operations
“UN peacekeepers can do a lot of good in situations when you need traffic cops.” Linda Polman is a critical freelance journalist who has been covering peacebuilding and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of… Continue reading
Harmful Humanitarian Aid: Dilemmas and Solutions
Bringing aid has a price. Linda Polman is a freelance journalist who has been covering peacebuilding and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of war for over 20 years. She explains how aid organizations… Continue reading
How to stop aid from helping warlords?
Could an aid organization be tried bythe International Criminal Court (ICC) for aiding warlords? Linda Polman is a freelance journalist who has been covering peacebuilding and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of war… Continue reading
Four Lessons for Peacebuilding in Syria
What if the Syrian fighting factions reach a peace deal, and the United Nations are called in to help build the peace? What lessons should the UN bring from their previous peacebuilding experience?… Continue reading
Syrian peace talks: what role for outsiders?
What if serious peace talks are held on Syria, how can and should outsiders be involved? Willemijn Verkoren (director at CICAM) argues that now that the Syrian president Assad has agreed to disarm… Continue reading
When is Armed Intervention the Solution?
In an opinion-piece in Volkskrant, a Dutch daily, Willemijn Verkoren (director at CICAM) agreed with the Russian president Putin that an armed intervention is seldom the solution to conflict. My question: so when… Continue reading
Critiques of Peacebuilding in Bosnia
How effective has the peacebuilding effort in Bosnia been – and what were the main flaws? Professor Michael Pugh (University of Bradford) critiques the post-conflict peacebuilding efforts in Bosnia for being excessively neoliberal, for… Continue reading
‘Things to avoid’ after peace agreement on Syria
Dan Smith (Secretary General of International Alert) reflects on a best-case scenario in Syria. What can the international community do to help build peace in Syria, should a peace agreement eventually be reached?… Continue reading