Inter-Organizational Coordination in Peacebuilding

Abstract

This chapter explores inter-organizational relations in peacebuilding. It draws from wider organizational theory to apply the concept of action-set to the groups of international organizations engaged in peace operations. A review of the general peacebuilding literature is provided to identify the principal obstacles to effective coordination in this challenging policy area, discussing mainly organizations’ different approaches to peacebuilding, their efforts to preserve autonomy, and divergent organizational cultures. The chapter then proceeds to analyse the empirical literature on two cases—Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo—to investigate the presence of these obstacles on the ground. Finally, the chapter calls for more robust, theoretically informed and comparative research on inter-organizational coordination in peacebuilding.