Protecting Peace? How the UN’s Protection of Civilians Contributes to Peace Processes

Over the last twenty years, the protection of civilians (POC) has become central to the mandates of multidimensional peacekeeping operations, elevated as a core issue on the Security Council’s agenda, and designated as a priority among mandated tasks. This prioritization is based in part on assumptions that POC is a critical enabling factor to achieve peace and that it contributes to the durability of peace. However, the truth of these assumptions remains untested. In this illuminating study, Je