'The New World of UN Peace Operations' book launched in NYC

On October 27, GPPi Co-Founder and Associate Director Thorsten Benner presented the new GPPi book The New World of UN Peace Operations: Learning to Build Peace? at a discussion event jointly organized by the German Mission to the United Nations in New York, the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and GPPi. The book was published by Oxford University Press in 2011 and was written by Benner, Stephan Mergenthaler and Philipp Rotmann.

The event took place at the German mission to the UN in New York. The discussion reviewed the findings of the study in light of the current challenges of UN peace operations. To what extent has the UN apparatus managed to turn itself into a learning organization? Where are the most persistent deficits? What are the lessons for a ​“Peace Operations 2020” agenda to be pursued by different stakeholders (UN bureaucracy, member states, the broader policy community)?

The event was opened and introduced by Ambassador Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations. Thorsten Benner briefly presented the book and Jean-Marie Guéhenno (former Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping and one of the protagonists of the book) delivered the keynote address. The discussion was moderated by Teresa Whitfield of the Center on International Cooperation.