UN in Armed Conflict

Project Overview

Project Leader

Project Period

  • 2001 - ongoing

Other Project Collaborators

  • Dr. Patrik Johansson, Umeå University (since 2003)
  • Amb. Anders Bjurner, Stockholm (since 2011)

Project Description

The UN has been activated in the management and resolution of armed conflict since the end of the Cold War. UN actions since 1946 are continuously analysed. 

This project has studied the decisions in the Security Council in a series of publications.

The project also has an ongoing interest in UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld and his performance in international conflict prevention.

This work relates to other Department projects on mediation, conflict prevention, UCDP, and to the work of targeted sanctions, see SPITS project page. 

Other Project Activities

In conjunction with the annual Dag Hammarskjöld Lectures  as well as the UN Day, the project has focused in presentations on issues such as the role of the UN Secretary General, UN uses of peacekeeping and UN arms embargoes.

Also, the project has been involved in reflections on the standing and reform of the United Nations security approach and organisation.

It has also taken up the issue of the UN and regional organisations.

Recent Publications

  • Peter Wallensteen and Patrik Johansson 2015. The UN Security Council: Decisions and Actions. In Sebastian von Einsiedel, David M. Malone and Bruno Stagno Ugarte (eds) The UN Security Council in the 21st Century, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, pp. 27-54.
  • Peter Wallensteen 2015. '70 anos de la ONU: es tiempo de traerla de vuelta!' [The UN at 70: Time to Bring It Back In!] in Mexico y las operaciones de mantenimiento de la paz de las Naciones Unidas en el siglo XXI: Retos y oportunidades, ed. by Maria Cristina Rosas, Mexico, D.F., pp.  261-270
  • Peter Wallensteen and Anders Bjurner 2015. Regional Organizations in Peacemaking. Challengers to the UN? Edited volume, with contributions on the Arab League, GCC, AU, ECOWAS, OSCE and EU, 270 pages. London: Routledge.
  • Peter Wallensteen and Patrik Johansson 2014. The United Nations Security Council in state-based armed conflicts, 2003-12. SIPRI Yearbook 2014: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, Oxford University Press, pp. 56-69.

Earlier Publications

  • Wallensteen, Peter 2011. ‘Leave it to Dag!’ Special Issue of Dag Hammarskjöld. New Routes. Uppsala: Life and Peace Institute. Vol. 16 (2): 17-20.
  • Wallensteen, Peter 2010. ‘The UN between P1, G2 and a New Global Society’, in Klackenberg, Dag (ed) En diplomatins hantverkare. Vänbok till Jan Eliasson[A Craftsman of Diplomacy. Festschrift to Jan Eliasson],Stockholm: Atlantis, pp 133-147. Also in Peter Wallensteen 2011. Peace Research: Theory and Practice, London: Routledge, pp 93-101.
  • Wallensteen, Peter and Henning Melber 2008. Generalsekreteraren Hammarskjöld. Personliga erfarenheter och reflektioner. Sture Linnér och Sverker Åström. 2007 års Dag Hammarskjöldföreläsningar. ed. with Henning Melber, Uppsala universitet: Department of Peace and Conflict Research 2008, also available in English: UN Secretary-General Hammarskjöld. Reflections and Personal Experiences. 2007 Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala.
  • Wallensteen, Peter 2008. ‘Global Governance and the Future of United Nations’, in Hettne, Björn (ed) 2008 Human Values and Global Governance. Studies in Development, Security and Culture, Vol. 2, Palgrave-Macmillan, pp 198-219.
  • Wallensteen, Peter 2007. ‘Ahrnens, Annette 2007. A Quest for Legitimacy. Debating UN Security Council Rules on Terrorism and Non-Proliferation’. Literature Review, Statsvetenskaplig Tidskrift 2008 Vol. 89. No 2, pp 225-27.
  • Fruchart, Damien , Paul Holtom, Siemon T. Wezeman, Daniel Strandow and Peter Wallensteen 2007. United Nations Arms Embargoes. Their Impact on Arms Flows and Target Behaviour, SIPRI and Uppsala University, 2007, with 57 p.
  • Heldt, Birger and Peter Wallensteen 2008. ’ International Peacekeeping: The UN versus Regional Organizations’, in Hewitt, J. J., J. Wilkenfeld, T. R. Gurr 2007. Peace and Conflict 2008. Center for International Development and Conflict Management, University of Maryland.
  • Wallensteen, Peter 2005. ‘How to Organize Conflict Prevention?’ in Report of the Dag Hammarskjöld Symposium on Respecting International Law and International Institutions, Uppsala, Sweden, The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, pp 27-35.
  • Wallensteen, Peter 2005. ’La adaptabilidad de la ONU: agenda amplia, poder camiante’ in Maria Cristina Rosas (ed) 60 Anos de la ONU: Qué debe Cambiar?Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, pp 79-97.
  • Wallensteen, Peter and Jan Eliasson 2005. ’Förebyggande diplomati’ (Preventive Diplomacy) in Ask, Sten & Anna Mark-Jungkvist (eds) 2005. Freden som äventyr. Dag Hammarskjöld och FN:s framtid (Peace as Adventure. Dag Hammarskjöld and the Future of the UN), Stockholm: Atlantis, pp 278-289.
  • Wallensteen, Peter, Understanding Conflict Resolution - War, Peace and the Global System, Sage 2002, chapters 9 and 10.
  • Wallensteen, Peter and Patrik Johansson 2004. "Security Council Decisions in Perspective" in Malone, David (ed), The UN Security Council. From the Cold War to the 21st Century, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, London, 2004, pp 17-33. Data on UN Security Council Chapter VII resolutions.
  • Staibano, Carina and Peter Wallensteen 2004. "Attention and commitment: Practical approaches in bridging gaps in UN's post- conflict peace building capacity".

Main Financial Support

  • Uppsala University
  • Uppsala Forum for Democracy, Peace and Human Rights
  • Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Stockholm
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