The United Nations plays a significant role in the development and maintenance of international security, humanitarian laws, and social progress. RAND has examined the efficacy and effectiveness of the United Nations in such areas as nation-building, peacekeeping, and stability operations.
REPORT
Past efforts to resolve ethno-territorial conflicts in Brčko, Mostar, Northern Ireland, and Jerusalem provide insights that could facilitate a negotiated settlement regarding the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk. The case studies show that Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomen must emphasize governance over symbols of sovereignty, develop adaptable power-sharing mechanisms, marginalize spoilers, empower local leaders, and create multi-ethnic…
REPORT
Governments intervening in post-conflict states face challenges and dilemmas regarding stabilization and reconstruction, where measures that may improve conditions in one respect may undermine them in another. A review of relevant literature seeks to inform strategic planning at the whole-of-government level.
REPORT
Continuing tensions between Arab and Kurdish communities in Iraq could lead to inadvertent armed conflict unless Iraqi leaders resolve outstanding disputes regarding federalism, the legal and political status of disputed territories, and the management of northern Iraq's oil and gas resources.
COMMENTARY
The United States has yet to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. As a result, the U.S., the world's leading maritime power, is at a military and economic disadvantage, write Thad W. Allen, Richard L. Armitage, and John J. Hamre.
COMMENTARY
Containing persistent maritime disorder might be more fruitful and could lay the foundations for a successful transition to better use of the sea once the societal factors—an even longer term problem—have been resolved, writes Laurence Smallman.
COMMENTARY
What has been happening in North Africa this year, in what seems to be the leading edge of a great wind of change sweeping the Arab world, will require the Europeans (along with the U.S. and others) to be deeply and durably engaged there — economically, politically and in humanitarian terms, writes Robert E. Hunter.
NEWS RELEASE
Over the past few years, the European Union has demonstrated the capacity to deploy and employ armed force outside its borders in support of broader common policy objectives, creating a new player in nation-building operations.
COMMENTARY
Diplomatic wrangling over Kosovo’s declaration of independence this week has created a good deal of misunderstanding about the U.N. Security Council Resolution that defines that society’s current status and future evolution, writes James Dobbins.
REPORT
This two-volume set examines United States and United Nations nation-building missions since World War II. Its purpose is to analyze military, political, humanitarian, and economic activities in post-conflict situations, determine key principles for success, and draw implications for future nation-building missions.
REPORT
James Dobbins discusses the performance of the United Nations in peacekeeping missions in testimony presented before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff: What's to Stop Kim Now?, in International Herald Tribune.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This study analyzes United Nations and other activities to build democratic police and justice systems. Through a model of security reconstruction, it examines in detail the primary security challenges facing Kosovo, the specific efforts the United Nations made to address these challenges, the ultimate effectiveness of the reconstruction efforts and democracy.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff: NATO's Role in Nation-building in NATO Review.
REPORT
The United Nations provides the most suitable institutional framework for all but the largest and most demanding of nation-building missions, according to RAND-initiated case studies of eight international crises.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff.
COMMENTARY
Depending on whom you talk to, the United Nations is either an obstacle to more effective security and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, or an opportunity to advance precisely these goals.
COMMENTARY
Among the four so-called "economic miracles" of the past half century—Germany after the second world war, Japan in the 1970s and 1980s, South Korea in the 1970s through to the mid-1990s, and China between 1980 and the present day—that of China has been the most remarkable.
COMMENTARY
Published commentary by RAND staff.
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