Using force to protect civilians: successes and failures of United Nations peace operations in Africa.

Stian Kjeksrud's book, "Using force to protect civilians," examines the successes and failures of United Nations peace operations in Africa. The book utilizes a novel dataset of 200 military protection operations from ten UN missions in Africa from 1999 to 2017. Kjeksrud's analysis reveals that UN troops effectively protected civilians in 76 instances, but were unable to adequately protect a significant portion of the local population in 83 cases. The book challenges the perception that the UN is unfit to use force to improve security for civilians and emphasizes the importance of tailored military responses based on an understanding of the perpetrators' motivations. However, the book's methodology is limited by the uncertainty of the dataset and potential underreporting of cases. Overall, the book provides valuable insights for policymakers interested in UN military protection efforts. [Extracted from the article]