Principal speaker
Vanessa Newby
The Pieces That Make Peace: Local Agency in International Security
Presented by: Vanessa Newby, Research Fellow Griffith Asia Institute
Thursday 31 July 2014, 12:30pm - 1:50pm
N72, Meeting Room -1.18, Nathan Campus
To RSVP, please contact Belle Hammond on (07) 3735 4705 or b.hammond@griffith.edu.au by 5.00pm Monday 28 July 2014.
This presentation provides fresh empirical evidence to contend that local actors within peace operations are able to influence their local security environment through the use of response and prevention mechanisms. It shows how these mechanisms, employed by the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) have added up to the maintenance of an 8 year period of peace. Threats to stability have occurred but have been controlled by the actions of peacekeepers on the ground and through the work of Political Affairs Officers (PAOs). The presentation concludes first, that it is important to research the micro-processes of peace operations in order to understand what eventuates on the ground. Second, that at the local level, international peace and stability can be maintained though small incremental measures employed consistently over time. Third, that local actors within peace operations possess the agency to influence their security environment through their interpretation of the mandate that facilitates activities such as liaison, reporting, and therefore trust-building at the local level.
Vanessa Newby’s PhD thesis was entitled: ‘Walk The Line: Examining the factors that enable peacekeepers to influence their local security environment’. Her thesis used an ethnographic approach over the course of a year to investigate the micro processes of the UNIFIL peace operation in South Lebanon which included conducting interviews with peacekeepers and civilian staff in the UNIFIL mission as well as members of the local population including business owners, farmers, members of civil society organisations, local government, and local journalists. Her research interests includes institutional change, power and agency in global/local systems, peacebuilding, institutions, peacekeeping, post conflict issues, change resistance, religion and politics and international relations. Vanessa is an intermediate Arabic speaker and has conducted research in the Levant for over three years.
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RSVP
RSVP on or before Monday 28 July 2014 , by email b.hammond@griffith.edu.au , or by phone (07) 373 54705