International Peacebuilding through Democracy and Rule of Law Promotion: From the Cold War's End to the Peacebuilding Commission

The origins and evolution of international peacebuilding in international politics are explored in Chapter 2. By citing relevant theoretical arguments and empirical data from ten peacebuilding operations, the United Nations and other international actors are shown to be adept at creating the conditions for the establishment of capable governing institutions legitimized through democratic legal authority. None of the cases presented further exhibit signs of returning to full-scale and sustained conflict in the near future. However, research from nine peacebuilding operations indicates that, alongside successful initiatives, many weaknesses and failures permeate efforts to promote democracy after war. Nevertheless, by taking stock of recent trends and incorporating relevant theoretical insights and statistical analysis, the existing international peacebuilding literature reinforces the defense of my study's first major proposition: institutionalizing democratic legal authority can create the conditions and framework necessary to mediate competing domestic interests and to address the root causes of a conflict peacefully.