Conditions Affecting the Outcome of Peace Operations in Post-Cold War Africa

What factors have led to successful outcomes in international peace operations conducted in Sub Saharan African countries? What factors explain mission failure? I proposed a basic theory of peace operations that linked conflict conditions to mandate design to the capability of an intervening force deployed for mission implementation developed from arguments and empirical results of previous research. Data on 86 peace operations that occurred in 23 African states covering 33 separate conflict periods between 1990 and 2015 was analyzed. My main findings showed that mandates were derived from conflict assessments and determined the size of intervening force required. The results also indicated that neither the size of an intervening force, nor the lead-organization, nor mandate robustness (offensive deterrence capacity), nor sequencing of operations were predictors of mission success or failure. However, implementation forces that included parallel support operations and/or mission assistance from Western great powers had higher levels of successful outcomes