Civilian Devastation in Peacekeeping Operations: A Presentation– April 30, Noon at Georgetown University

Please join Dr. Donald Daniel and Ms. Tromila Wheat as they present the findings of their paper, Civilian Devastation in Peacekeeping Operations. The utilization of peacekeepers to protect civilians confronting devastation remains an issue of considerable debate much of which revolves around whether sufficient capacity exists to take on the task. This paper examines the difficulties of providing resources both for quick response civilian protection against ongoing devastation and follow-on longer-term activities that can help guarantee against a resurgence of violence. The authors find that for the foreseeable future, the most promising prospect for the protection of civilians involves UN missions and “Western” agenda-based initiatives operating either in parallel or sequentially.

Dr. Donald Daniel is a Professor and member of the core faculty in the Security Studies Program. Prior to joining the full-time SSP faculty in August 2002, Prof. Daniel was Special Assistant to the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council. He has edited and contributed to a number of works on peacekeeping operations, including Beyond Traditional Peacekeeping (Macmillan 1995), Coercive Inducement and the Containment of Crises (U.S. Institute of Peace 1999), Leveraging for Success in United Nations Peace Operations (Greenwood and Praeger 2003), and Peace Operations: Trends, Progress, and Prospects (Georgetown University Press 2008).

Tromila Wheat is a Research Assistant and M.A. Candidate in the Security Studies Program, concentrating in terrorism and substate violence. She is a 2008 alumna of Mary Baldwin College, where she received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Student Award, as well as the Martha Stackhouse Grafton Award as the highest ranking graduate. Ms. Wheat has lived and conducted research in Oman through the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program.