Peacekeeping and Peace Building: Building on the Brahimi Report - Next Steps

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Last year?s report on United Nations Peace Operations began with a somber statement: "Over the last decade, the United Nations has repeatedly failed to meet the challenge" of protecting people from war. The report, compiled by a panel of experts from all six continents and chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi, a former Algerian Foreign Minister, proposes extensive reforms of UN Peacekeeping operations. Since the report, the UN has struggled to build peace in Sierra Leone and the Congo. The UN may or may not prove capable of peace enforcement and peace building. These are central questions for the WPF Program, which is hosting a meeting of UN officials, peace practitioners, and academics at the Kennedy School of Government on May 4-5. The meeting will explore all aspects of the peacemaking process, particularly the inability of the UN effectively to prevent conflict and build peace in the developing world