A Continuation of Politics by Other Means

PKSOI is pleased to present this monograph by Mr. Boraden Nhem. Mr. Nhem, a doctoral candidate, came to PKSOI to pursue his interest in peacekeeping. Particularly interested in the determining factors of success for peacekeeping missions, he has addressed a part of this with a fresh look at the United Nations (UN) Cambodian peacekeeping mission of 1992-93. His interests are academic but also motivated by personal experience-his childhood was spent in some of the worst years of fighting among factions, the implementation of the peacekeeping mission, and the rebuilding of the Cambodian government and society. Although he lived through this history, he has not fallen into the common trap of assuming his experience is the whole picture. This author has the unique ability to step back from his own life experience in order to investigate and make conclusions based upon the evidence he finds. He has done so in this paper. Mr. Nhem has made a case that in past research scholars have ordinarily addressed subjects such as mandates, spoiler management policy, and UN missions as separate constructs and further have failed to address local political factors. His new Cambodian case study reveals a complex and interactive situation in which local political conditions were paramount and directly challenged the UN peacekeeping principle of neutrality. In fact, he observes that UN peacekeeping missions can be too tied to theory and doctrine and ignore reality. Instead, he argues for missions that understand the inherent complexity of peacekeeping, recognize emerging realities, and adapt accordingly.