What is in a Mandate? Introducing the UN Peace Mission Mandates Dataset

Area of Science:

• Political Science
• International Relations
• Peace and Conflict Studies

Background:

• United Nations (UN) peace missions are undergoing continuous evolution.
• Existing categorizations of peace missions lack detailed insight into shifting types and objectives.
• A comprehensive dataset is needed to understand these changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the UN Peace Mission Mandates (UNPMM) dataset, a detailed resource covering 30 years of UN peace and political missions.
• To analyze changes in mission types, objectives, and specific tasks since the end of the Cold War.
• To identify factors influencing the UN's authorization of different mission types.

Main Methods:

• Development of the UN Peace Mission Mandates (UNPMM) dataset, encompassing global data from 1991-2020.
• Inclusion of 41 distinct mandate tasks for peacekeeping and political missions.
• Descriptive statistics and empirical analysis of the dataset.

Main Results:

• The UNPMM dataset provides one of the most detailed and up-to-date resources on UN peace mission mandates.
• Significant shifts in mission types, objectives, and tasks have occurred since the Cold War.
• Analysis reveals key factors influencing the UN's decision-making in mission authorization.

Conclusions:

• The UNPMM dataset facilitates a deeper understanding of UN peace mission evolution.
• Greater disaggregation of data on UN peace missions and their mandates is crucial.
• The findings underscore the complexity of contemporary UN peace operations.