What is the role of a soldier at the end of war, when either victory or defeat is inevitable? This book delves into that question, exploring how the military and soldiers on the ground have contributed to the transition to peace. With case studies from 1800 to the present day, Soldiers in Peace-making offers a historical overview of the part military men and women have played in the aftermath of war. From UN peacekeeping in Cambodia to military observers in former Yugoslavia, the post-Cold War US Army and more, the essays in this collection map the strategy, politics and practicalities involved in the transition from war to postwar. Analyzing the legitimacy of each 'peace' and the military's approach to them, the chapters explore how soldiers have engaged with politics and political leaders, interacted with civil populations, and called upon their own expertise to enable the peace-making process. In exploring the hybrid role of military men and women as diplomats, peacemakers, negotiators and fighters this book reveals the crucial part they have played as conflicts come to a close.

Diana Oestreich, a combat medic in the Army National Guard, enlisted like both her parents before her. But when she was commanded to run over an Iraqi child to keep her convoy rolling and keep her battle buddies safe, she was confronted with a choice she never thought she'd have to make. Torn between God's call to love her enemy and her country's command to be willing to kill, Diana chose to wage peace in a place of war. For the remainder of her tour of duty, Diana sought to be a peacemaker--leading to an unlikely and beautiful friendship with an Iraqi family. A beautiful and gut-wrenching memoir, Waging Peace exposes the false divide between loving our country and living out our faith's call to love our enemies--whether we perceive our enemy as the neighbor with an opposing political viewpoint, the clerk wearing a head-covering, or the refugee from a war-torn country. By showing that us-versus-them is a false choice, this book will inspire each of us to choose love over fear.

Once in a great while, a book is written that substantially changes the way people think about a particular subject. Will War Ever End? is such a book. Written as a “manifesto for waging peace” by an active duty captain in the US Army, Will War Ever End? challenges readers to think about peace, war and violence in radically new ways. “Are human beings naturally violent?” “What is hatred?” “How can love overcome the power of hatred?” “How does nonviolence overcome the power of violence?” “How can we prove that unconditional love makes us psychologically healthy and that hatred, just like an illness, occurs when something has gone wrong?” “How does violence against the natural world relate to violence between human beings?” These are all questions that Captain Paul K. Chappell leads us to consider in a strikingly new way. In Will War Ever End?, Chappell demonstrates that human beings are naturally peaceful and that world peace can become more than a cliché. He lays out a practical framework for transforming the way we think about war and violence, enabling us to begin the real work we must do in order to achieve true peace for mankind. Will War Ever End? is a deeply personal story of a soldier’s search for human understanding that will lead to universal transformation. Its message is one of hope, offering practical solutions to help us build a better world. We can all make change. Now is the time to begin.

Dennis C. Jett examines why peacekeeping operations fail by comparing the unsuccessful attempt at peacekeeping in Angola with the successful effort in Mozambique, alongside a wide range of other peacekeeping experiences. The book argues that while the causes of past peacekeeping failures can be identified, the chances for success will be difficult to improve because of the way such operations are initiated and conducted, and the way the United Nations operates as an organization. Jett reviews the history of peacekeeping and the evolution in the number, size, scope, and cost of peacekeeping missions. He also explains why peacekeeping has become more necessary, possible, and desired and yet, at the same time, more complex, more difficult, and less frequently used. The book takes a hard look at the UN's actions and provides useful information for understanding current conflicts.

Operations in the 1850s and assist military historians in their understanding of these activities as they relate to the twenty-first century."--Jacket.

Making War and Building Peace examines how well United Nations peacekeeping missions work after civil war. Statistically analyzing all civil wars since 1945, the book compares peace processes that had UN involvement to those that didn't. Michael Doyle and Nicholas Sambanis argue that each mission must be designed to fit the conflict, with the right authority and adequate resources. UN missions can be effective by supporting new actors committed to the peace, building governing institutions, and monitoring and policing implementation of peace settlements. But the UN is not good at intervening in ongoing wars. If the conflict is controlled by spoilers or if the parties are not ready to make peace, the UN cannot play an effective enforcement role. It can, however, offer its technical expertise in multidimensional peacekeeping operations that follow enforcement missions undertaken by states or regional organizations such as NATO. Finding that UN missions are most effective in the first few years after the end of war, and that economic development is the best way to decrease the risk of new fighting in the long run, the authors also argue that the UN's role in launching development projects after civil war should be expanded.

Builds on the powerful argument for peace laid in Will War Ever End