Pragmatic Peacekeeping in a Multipolar Era: Liberal Norms, Practices, and the Future of UN Peace Operations

Abstract

As UN peacekeeping continues to move through a period of change and rupture, we conceptualise this turn as ‘pragmatic’ and take interest in its normative dimensions. In this introduction to a Special Issue, we take stock of scholarship on this pragmatic turn, arguing that it can be enriched through deeper engagement with theories of norms and practices, drawing especially on pragmatist approaches in the field of International Relations. We also argue that, while pragmatic peacekeeping may be less ideologically ambitious than earlier iterations of the practice, it still has a strong normative dimension.