The Challenges of Constructing Legitimacy in Peacebuilding

THE CHALLENGES OF CONSTRUCTING LEGITIMACY IN PEACEBUILDING by Daisaku Higashi M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2006 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Political Science) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2012 © Daisaku Higashi, 2012 Abstract Observing challenges in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kosovo, East Timor, and Libya, to name a few, there is no doubt that peacebuilding—international efforts to create lasting peace in post-conflict states — is a critical issue in world politics. It appears to be a widely shared understanding among both scholars and policymakers that it is imperative for the peacebuilders—both international and domestic authorities in charge of creating peace—to obtain legitimacy in reconstructing war-torn states. Surprisingly, however, concrete methods or policies to construct legitimacy in “host states” have not been fully examined by either IR theorists or practitioners. The objective of this dissertation is to develop an understanding of the mechanism of constructing or eroding the legitimacy of newly created domestic governments in the specific context of peacebuilding. The existing accounts basically contend that constructing legitimate governments in post-conflict states largely depends on the level of force and level of resource distribution (or “guns and money”). On the contrary, my argument emphasizes that in addition to those two factors, other factors, such as inclusive governments reconciling with political adversaries and the substantial role of international organizations as a credible third party to establish the fairness and neutrality of the political process, are very critical in building the legitimacy of the domestic governments in the long run. In order to assess this argument, the dissertation conducts detailed process tracing to assess peacebuilding in Afghanistan as a primary case, demonstrating how the legitimacy of the Afghan government has been ii eroded. The dissertation also assesses the cases of Iraq, Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste (East Timor) in more concise fashion. All four cases support my argument about the requirements for an inclusive political process in peacebuilding as well as the important role of the UN which has often been dismissed by its critics. The research suggests important policy implications for peacebuilding and contributes to generating a theory that can be assessed by future studies. iii Preface Ethics approval for the interview portions of my research was obtained from the UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board; UBC BREB certificate number is H08-00043. The part of my research in Afghanistan was published by Higashi, Daisaku. (2008, October). “Challenge of Constructing Legitimacy in Peacebuilding: Case of Afghanistan.” Report to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). Available from the UN Peacekeeping Resource Hub, http://www.peacekeepingbestpractices.unlb.org. The research in East-Timor was also published by Higashi, Daisaku. (2009, March). “Challenge of Constructing Legitimacy in Peacebuilding: Case of Timor-Leste.” Report to the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). Available from the UN Peacekeeping Resource Hub, http://www.peacekeepingbestpractices.unlb.org. My research has been also published as the Japanese book, Higashi, Daisaku. (2009). Heiwa Kouchiku (Peacebuilding): Research in Afghanistan and East Timor. Tokyo: Iwanami Shinsho. iv Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................... ii Preface.. .................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ viii List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ ix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ x 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Peacebuilding and Legitimacy ........................................................................................................................ 1 Peacebuilding in the Post-Cold War Era ......................................................................................................... 3 Two Key Phenomena of Contemporary Peacebuilding ................................................................................. 4 Theoretical Gap ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter Overview: Arguments and Investigation ........................................................................................ 11 2 Constructing or Eroding Legitimacy in Peacebuilding ............................................... 14 Legitimacy and Compliance ......................................................................................................................... 14 Source of Legitimacy ................................................................................................................................. 17 Building or Eroding Legitimacy: Reciprocal Process .............................................................................. 20 The Dilemma of Peacebuilding in Establishing Legitimacy ................................................................... 22 My Argument: Four Critical Factors ............................................................................................................. 23 Existing Literature: Coercive and Resource-Centric .................................................................................... 25 How Do the Key Factors Influence Legitimacy? ......................................................................................... 28 Role of the UN ........................................................................................................................................... 28 Comparative Advantage of the UN ..................................................................................................... 32 Inclusiveness of Domestic Factions in the New Government ................................................................. 35 Avoiding Premature Diagnosis ............................................................................................................ 37 Resource Distribution (Provision of Peace Dividends) ............................................................................ 40 Inclusiveness Matters Even for Resource Distribution ...................................................................... 42 Level of Force ............................................................................................................................................ 43 Who Dispatches Forces Matters for Local Acceptance...................................................................... 45 From Repeated Compliance to Domestic Legitimate Government ............................................................ 48 Methodology: Detailed Case Studies in Peacebuilding States .................................................................... 50 Data and Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 54 3 Compliance and Noncompliance with Disbanding Illegal Armed Groups .............. 58 Background of Afghanistan: History of Fighting against Foreign Troops .................................................. 58 September 11 Attack and Bonn Conference in 2001 ................................................................................... 62 After Bonn: Implementing the Time Table and Challenges ........................................................................ 64 v DDR and DIAG in Afghanistan .................................................................................................................... 66 The DIAG Mechanism .............................................................................................................................. 67 Outcomes of DIAG ................................................................................................................................... 69 Reasons for Compliance in Kapisa Province ............................................................................................... 72 Economic Incentive for Their Communities ............................................................................................ 73 Credibility of the UN ................................................................................................................................. 74 Other Factors .............................................................................................................................................. 77 Reasons for Noncompliance in Jalrez District in Wardak Province ............................................................ 81 DIAG Losing Credibility ..........................................................................................................................

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