The Local Effects of UN Peacekeeping

What are the local effects of UN PKOs? Prior research examines the violence reducing effects of peacekeepers at a national and yearly level, but that obscures the real-world effects of peacekeepers who operate at a local level. This dissertation theorizes how UN peacekeepers prevent, displace, and sometimes increase violence against civilians by state and rebel actors. "Who Keeps the Peace?" examines the gendered effects of UN peacekeepers, showing that women increase the operational effectiveness of PKOs. "Does Peace Remain After the Peacekeepers Leave?" explores the durability of subnational peace and theorizes how violence may displace upon peacekeeper arrival. "All About That Base... No Troubl" provides the first analysis of peacekeeping bases by theorizing the gravity of peacekeeping bases over time and space. Each chapter utilizes advanced causal inference methods to understand how peacekeeping impacts violence, from logistic regressions, instrumental variables, and difference-in-differences designs. I conclude by tying together each chapter and exploring what the results mean for the UN, policymakers, and future researchers.