The Missing Link Revisited: Peace building from integration to impact in post-conflict Liberia

Abstract: In contemporary conflict environments, security and development are inextricably linked. This has spawned the development of the comprehensive approach to peace support operations. But there is a deficit of studies validating that integration and coherence will lead to positive outcomes and higher degrees of effectiveness. There is also a gap between strategic planning and operative implementation. The aims of this thesis are to develop an analytical framework for monitoring and evaluation and test it in a case study to investigate the role of integration, coherence and cooperation in the production of positive outcomes. Based on the method of process-tracing, an interactive perspective on structure and agency and theories on the civil – military dilemma, a reflexive analytical framework is developed to analyse the UN mission in Liberia in the transition period from 2003 – 2006. Based on the analytical model the case is divided into three phases and analysed accordingly. The conclusions are that cooperation enabled by integrated structures is a primary driver producing positive outcomes in the operational setting, while lack of strategic coherence hampers the transition to long-term positive outcomes. The analytical framework is a useful tool for monitoring, but needs to be complemented with evaluation tools.