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16

Conflict, Competition, and

Cooperation in Twenty-First

Century Military

Peacekeeping Operations 1

David R. Segal, Christopher Dandeker, and
Yuko K. Whitestone

BACKGROUND and political democracy ended almost three
decades ago in the North Atlantic region,
The nature of military conflict, the strategies continuing nuclear threats from North Korea,
used by the international community to con- as well as manifestations of China’s attempt
trol such conflicts, and the norms guiding to maintain a communist political system
that control have changed since the end of the even as it attempts to join the global market
Cold War in Europe in the late 1980s. In par- economy, reflect a Cold War that is still being
ticular, new patterns of cooperation have waged on the Pacific Rim (Kurashina
evolved among nations forming coalitions and Segal, 2007). In a set of comparative
for the purpose of conflict control, while at analyses of military forces after the collapse
the same time competition has evolved of the Warsaw Pact, which postulated a shift
among potential peacekeeping coalition part- in military missions toward peacekeeping,
ners as new participants in peacekeeping Downes (2000: 188–9) noted with regard
operations have required that traditional par- to Australia and New Zealand that territorial
ticipants in multinational peacekeeping re- defense, regional security, and alliance
evaluate their roles in the process. This security all were currently higher priorities
chapter is concerned with these patterns. than peace support and enforcement. Thus
It has been common to refer to the period our analysis deals with a transition period,
since the collapse of the Berlin Wall in the in which new forms of conflict, cooperation,
late 1980s as the post-Cold War period. We and competition are evolving in some areas,
regard this characterization as too compre- while more traditional forms persist
hensive. While tension between communism in others.