Background
Multilateral conflict management and peace operations are in a state of flux. In the face of enormous challenges, the world is more divided than it has been for a long time. With the shift away from the global, rules-based order, governments have a broadening scope of conflict management approaches and norms, as well as geopolitical alliances, to choose from. At the same time, global development cooperation is decreasing dramatically and thus non-military resources for conflict management are limited. The new US administration is compounding this with a more isolationist foreign policy and major cuts to its international aid. Meanwhile, EU member states are focusing more on national defence; ad hoc coalitions and bilateral security interventions are on the rise; China and the Gulf States, for example, are taking on new mediation roles; and a broader question on the future of African-led peace operations looms. Amid these new developments, multilateral conflict management is becoming increasingly challenging, fragmented, deinstitutionalized, and militarized. Analysis of the challenges and opportunities, as well as dialogues about the future are urgently needed.
To this end, the New Geopolitics of Conflict Management initiative, a collaboration between the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), held two meetings – in Dakar and in Addis –to discuss the future of conflict management and peace operations, focusing on practical ways to adapt tools to respond to the challenges at hand.
While UN peace operations must adapt to rising global challenges, intensifying geopolitical polarisation, reduced funding and rapid reconfiguration of the world order, learning from past efforts remains essential for ensuring future effectiveness. From 2018-2025, the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON)—a network of more than 40 research institutions and think tanks—undertook joint research studies into the effectiveness of specific peace operations and/or thematic mandate areas, publishing a total of 20 reports. In 2025, as an input for the comprehensive review of UN peace operations, the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI), the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) and NORCAP synthesised the findings of the EPON studies to generate meta-level insights into the key factors that influence the effectiveness and success of peace operations.
This Peace Operations Review Week event features a presentation of the findings of both endeavours. Expert panels will explore how multilateral conflict management is evolving and what this means for efforts to sustain effective peace operations.
Please direct any questions you may have to Sara Shah (Sara.Batool.Shah@mfa.no) or Cedric de Coning (cdc@nupi.no).
Time and Date: 05 November 2025, 08:00 – 10:00
Venue: Permanent Mission of Norway to the UN – 1 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza #35, New York, NY 10017 (885 2nd Avenue, between 47th and 48th Street)
