In the wake of the Iraq War, what lies ahead for the United Nations as peacekeeper and nation-builder? What lessons were learnt in Afghanistan and Iraq, what reforms could they entail, how do UN efforts fare as compared with those of the United States, and what will be, in the next decade, the most pressing challenges confronting the Organization? Will the United Nations, in its current form and within the new global power structure, be able to remain relevant, retain its ideals and still respond meaningfully to mounting international tensions?

These were some of the questions tackled, during an often passionate and lively two day closed-door meeting held in symbolical Hiroshima in March 2005, by a group of eminent scholars and practitioners, many directly and personally involved with multilateral or unilateral peace operations. In addition to the larger issues of peacekeeping and peace-building and the recommendations for historical reform suggested by the ‘UN High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change’ in December 2004, the group debated some of the most complex recent interventions, including Afghanistan, East Timor and Iraq.

This volume, which contains all the presentations and discussions of the UNITAR/IPS Conference on “United Nations as a Peacekeeper and Nation-Builder: Continuity and Change - What Lies Ahead?” will be a valuable addition to the collections of experts or laypersons interested in the future role of the United Nations in general and in peacekeeping and post-conflict state-building in particular.

Azimi, Nassrine and Chang, Li Lin, ed. 2005. United Nations as Peacekeeper and Nation-Builder: Continuity and Change - What Lies Ahead? Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publisher for UNITAR

(250 pages, ISBN 90-04-14826-4 (Hard Cover), ISBN 90-04-14843-4 (Paperback))