Fachbereich Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften Freie Universität Berlin UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING AS ORGANISATIONAL ACTION Exploring Organisational Processes Within the United Nations Peacekeeping Bureaucracy Joel Gwyn Winckler Kumulative Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Philosophie (Dr. Phil.) Berlin, 2015 ERSTGUTACHTER: Prof. Dr. Sven Chojnacki, Freie Universität Berlin ZWEITGUTACHTER: Prof. Dr. Michael Daxner, Freie Universität Berlin DISPUTATION: 11. Juni 2015, Freie Universität Berlin ABSTRACT United Nations (UN) peacekeeping is carried out by a complex bureaucratic organisation – the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy. This organisation is necessary for the work of UN peacekeeping operations. It is also a dynamic social entity, which produces its own processes, rules and procedures capable of making sense of the complex post-war recovery issue. This thesis explores how organisational processes within the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy work. It does so by cumulating three independent articles under this general research question. The first article develops a theoretical framework of analysis through introducing two core concepts of organisational sociology, ‘coupling’ and ‘communication’, to the study of UN peacekeeping. It argues that the interconnection between these two concepts define a dynamic organisational space in which UN officials interact and shape peacekeeping activities. The second and third articles present the results of a qualitative case study: the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) and its headquarters, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). Through the use of interpretative methods, the second article particularly identifies general strategies used by UN officials to organise and influence peacekeeping activities within UNMIL and DPKO. The third article investigates the disconnection between the organisational perspective of UNMIL and that of DPKO, and analyses the use of communication practices in protection against intra-organisational interferences. The results of these articles reveal that the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy is more than a rationalised organisation functioning to fulfil a specific goal or mandate. Rather, its organisational processes rely on the creativity and flexibility of its individual member as well as their ability to make their work influential within the organisation. This thesis also shows that the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy includes a high degree of organisational diversity, as it incorporates multiple perspectives and autonomous local frameworks in which UN officials interact and organise peacekeeping activities. However, this decentralisation also produces many contingencies and uncertainties. Hence, the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy protects its formal programmatic development from the diversity of its organisational action through a strict hierarchical vetting process of reference documents. Even though this practice ensures organisational survival, it often does not adequately reflect the practical knowledge produced by the diverse activities at different levels and locations of the UN peacekeeping bureaucracy. iii ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Peacekeeping der Vereinten Nationen (UN) wird von einer komplexen bürokratischen Organisation ausgeführt. Diese Organisation ist nicht nur eine notwendige Grundlage der Arbeit von Friedensmissionen. Sie ist auch ein dynamisches sozio-politisches Gebilde, in dem Prozesse, Regeln und Prozeduren entwickelt werden, die dem komplexen Sachverhalt der Friedenssicherung in Nachkriegskontexten Sinn verleiht. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht, wie Organisationsprozesse innerhalb der UN-Peacekeeping-Bürokratie funktionieren. Diese Frage wurde im Rahmen von drei unabhängigen Artikeln bearbeitet, die in dieser Dissertation kumulativ zusammengeführt werden. Basierend auf Kopplung und Kommunikation, zwei grundlegende Konzepte der Organisationsoziologie, wird im ersten Artikel ein theoretischer Rahmen zur Analyse von Organisationsprozessen der UN-Bürokratie entwickelt. Das zentrale Argument hierbei ist, dass der Zusammenhang zwischen Kopplung und Kommunikation einen dynamischen Raum definiert, in dem Fachkräfte der UN interagieren, um Peacekeeping-Maßnahmen zu gestalten. In den beiden anderen Artikeln werden die Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Fallstudie der UN-Friedensmission in Liberia (UNMIL) und deren Hauptquartier, der Hauptabteilung Friedenssicherungseinsätze (DPKO), präsentiert. Die interpretative Analyse im zweiten Artikel identifiziert generelle Strategien, die von UN-Fachkräften verfolgt werden, um die Gestaltung und Organisation von Peacekeeping- Maßnahmen zu beeinflussen. Der dritte Artikel konzentriert sich auf die Distanziertheit zwischen den Perspektiven der Friedensmission (UNMIL) und des Hauptquartiers (DPKO). Hierbei wird insbesondere der Gebrauch von Kommunikationspraktiken zur Verteidigung von Interessen gegenüber interner Einmischungen und Interventionen untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der drei Artikel beschreiben die Organisation von UN-Peacekeeping als eine Bürokratie, die sich, trotz ihrer rationalisierten Hierarchie, sehr stark auf die Kreativität, Flexibilität und Durchsetzungskraft ihrer individuellen Mitglieder verlässt. Diese Forschung zeigt auch, dass die Organisation der UN- Bürokratie diversifiziert ist. Sie beinhaltet verschiedene lokale Perspektiven und autonome Bezugsrahmen, in denen Fachkräfte auf unterschiedlichen Organisationsebenen interagieren. Diese formelle und informelle Dezentralisierung beinhaltet jedoch Kontingenz und Unsicherheit für die Organisation von UN-Peacekeeping. Daher beschützt die UN-Bürokratie ihre formale Programentwicklung vor der Diversität ihrer lokalen Entscheidungsrahmen durch das Prüfen und Selektieren von Referenzdokumenten. Dieser hierarchische Reflektionsprozess schließt jedoch selten das praktische Wissen lokaler UN-Akteure ein. Er sichert jedoch das Überleben von UN-Peacekeeping als internationale bürokratische Organisation. iv To Hannah E. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research and thesis would not have been possible without the help, discussions and cooperation of many people, colleagues and friends. First of all I would like to thank my two supervisors Sven Chojnacki and Michael Daxner for all their effort and support. I am especially thankful for their critique, praise and the space they gave me to develop and implement this research project. In this regard, I am also grateful to the State of Berlin for rewarding me with the Elsa-Neumann-Scholarship and the German Academic Exchange Service for financing my field research in Liberia. During my research I was very fortunate to work in a close group of dedicated doctoral students concerned with similar subjects, sharing an office space in Berlin Kreuzberg, and embedding my individual work in lively interaction and a motivating surrounding. I am here particularly obliged to Hannah Neumann, Sarah Riese, and Lisa Groß. Sarah and Lisa also did a tremendous job in providing substantive critique during the final stages of my work, an effort for which I am especially thankful. Many other colleagues and friends have also supported this research in different ways. Moreover, I am particularly indebted to all interview partners at the UN in Liberia and New York. Without their advice, interest, cooperation, insight, knowledge and connections this research would not have been possible. Among others, special thanks goes to (in alphabetical order) Nannette Ahmed, Catherine Barley, Sandra Boyd, Werner Distler, Sebastian Döring, Elizabeth Chester, Paul Egunsola, Manfred Ertl, Catarina Fabiansson, Steven Feller, Jost Halfmann, David Harland, Katharina Hoffmann, Andreas Jödecke, Rebecca Jovin, Julian Junk, Christina Kaps, John Karlsrud, Martin Koch, Tom Königs, Florian von König, Alan Le Roy, Andrea Liese, Jan Koehler, Anne Menzel, Marcus Moore, Gilbert Ngesu, Saah N'Tow, Tobias Pietz, Rukshan Ratnam, Nora Röhner, Philipp Rotmann, Justine Rubira, Sebastian Schindler, Ursula Schröder, Peter Schumann, Wolfgang Seibel, Ian Sinclair, Frederik Trettin, Wolfgang Wagner and Kirsten Young. I also very much appreciate the Heads of Field Office who hosted me during one or two days and allowed me to talk with field office staff and participate in the life at an UNMIL field office. Many thanks also go to seven anonymous reviewers and the editors of the journals Peace Conflict and Development, Journal of International Organization Studies, and International Peacekeeping for their valuable feedback. Moreover, I would like to acknowledge Cornelius Graubner, Phuong Pham, Silke Pietsch and Emily White for accommodating me on my trips to Monrovia and New York and making my stays so very enjoyable. Last but not least, particular thanks go to my parents Jane and Axel Winckler as well as Nora Pagel for all their support throughout the duration of this research project. I dedicate this thesis to my daughter Hannah Edith Wobst. vi CONTENTS List of Tables x List of Figures x Acronyms xi 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Organisational Action and the Research on International Peace Operations 4 1.2 Analysing UN Peace Operations as Organisational Action: Approach, Findings and Relevance 9 1.3 Thesis Overview 14 Part I Method and Background 16 2 Approaching the UN Peacekeeping Bureaucracy and Research Method 17 2.1 Research Strategy: Approaching UN Peacekeeping as Organisational Action 18 2.2 Single Case Study Method and Case Selection 22 2.3 Conducting Research in the UN Peacekeeping Bureaucracy 26 2.3.1 Gaining Access to DPKO and UNMIL 26 2.3.2 Accessing data on DPKO and UNMIL