How Peace Operations Work

How Peace Operations Work: Power, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness analyzes the operational dynamics of international interventions on the ground through a local perspective. The book explores how peace missions must address both the international politics of their creation and the fractured societies they seek to transform.

The volume centers on the role of local legitimacy, defined as the perception among local actors that a mission, its staff, and its goals are right, fair, and appropriate. When local populations perceive an operation as legitimate, they are more willing to cooperate and help personnel achieve mission objectives.

To ground its theoretical framework, the study examines two detailed empirical cases: the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands.