Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga Between absolute war and absolute peacekeeping

279 Pages·2015·3.63 MB·English

Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga

Between absolute war and absolute peacekeeping:
searching for a theory of the use of force on behalf
of the international community

TESE DE DOUTORADO

Thesis presented to the Programa de Pos-
Graduação em Relações Internacionais of the
Instituto de Relações Internacionais, PUC-Rio as
parcial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Doutor em Relações Internacionais.

Advisor: Prof. Kai Michael Kenkel

Rio de Janeiro
March 2015
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Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga

Between absolute war and absolute peacekeeping:
searching for a theory of the use of force on behalf of the
international community

Thesis presented to the programa de Pós-Graduação em
Relações Internacionais, of the Instituto de Relações
Internacionais do Centro de Ciências Sociais da PUC-Rio,
as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doutor.
Prof. Kai Michael Kenkel
Advisor
Instituto de Relações Internacionais - PUC-Rio
Prof. Monica Herz
Instituto de Relações Internacionais - PUC-Rio

Prof. Stefano Guzzini
Instituto de Relações Internacionais - PUC-Rio
Department of Government - Uppsala University (Sweden)
Prof. Antonio Jorge Ramalho
Instituto de Relações Internacionais - Universidade de Brasilia - UnB

Prof. Beatrice Heuser
Department of Politics and International Relations
University of Reading (United Kingdom)
Prof. Monica Herz
Coordenadora Setorial do Centro de Ciências Sociais - PUC-Rio
Rio de Janeiro, March 27rd 2015.
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All rights reserved

Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga

The author is an active duty Brazilian Navy officer (Marine
Corps) with extensive field experience. He holds a master’s
degree in Military Studies from the United States Marine
Corps University. His field experience includes serving in
Haiti as assistant to the first MINUSTAH (United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti) Force Commander. His main
research interest focuses on the question of the use of force
on behalf of the international community. He has published
extensively on defence, strategy, international interventions
and peacekeeping.

Ficha Catalográfica

Braga, Carlos Chagas Vianna

Between absolute war and absolute peacekeeping:

searching for a theory of the use of force on behalf of the

international community / Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga ;

advisor: Kai Michael Kenkel. – 2015.

279 f. : il. (color.) ; 30 cm

Tese (doutorado)–Pontifícia Universidade Católica
do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Relações Internacionais,
2015.
Inclui bibliografia

1. Relações internacionais – Teses. 2. Comunidade

internacional. 3. Uso da força. 4. Operações de

manutenção da paz. 5. Clausewitz. 6. Intervenções

humanitárias. 7. Responsabilidade de proteger (R2P).

8. Manutenção da paz absoluta. 9. MINUSTAH.10. Haiti.

11. Líbia. I. Kenkel, Kai Michael. II. Pontifícia

Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de
Relações Internacionais. III. Título.

CDD: 327
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Acknowledgments

It is time to acknowledge numerous people who have decisively contributed to
making a long time dream of concluding this doctoral program in International
Relations come true.

In particular, I would like to begin by thanking my advisor and friend Professor Kai
Michael Kenkel, an outstanding academic, who with intense and challenging
conversations guided me through the whole process. I am in profound debt to his
friendship and willingness to accommodate my often very complicated work
schedule, very frequently sacrificing his own leisure and family time.

I am also especially thankful to Professor R. B. J. Walker, whose enlightening
conversations and comments were key inspirational sources regarding the subject
and the general design of this doctoral dissertation.

I also recognize the support of the great team of professors of the Institute of
International Relations (IRI), which played a most important role during this
program, in particular Monica Herz, whose friendship, support, and enthusiasm
were always contagious, Carolina Moulin, Paulo Esteves, João Nogueira, Stefano
Guzzini, Jose Maria Gomez, and Marta Moreno.

I would also like to express my deep appreciation for the support of Admiral
Antonio Ruy Silva, also a PhD from this program, who enthusiastically motivated
and advised me in subjects related not only to this project, but also to its
accommodation with my naval military career.

I also recognize Professor Antonio Jorge Ramalho for his friendship, support, and
inspiring conversations on different matters, from National Defense to
peacekeeping, among many others.

I must also acknowledge the important contribution of Professor Jairus Grove
enlightening comments and conversations, during the development of this work,
especially during the International Political Sociology (IPS) Doctoral Workshops
held in PUC-Rio (2012) and in the University of Hawaii (2013).
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I am thankful to Professor Beatrice Heuser for her very constructive comments and
for promptly accepting the invitation to be an external examiner. It was a great
honor to have such a prominent scholar, whose work on Clausewitz I deeply
admire, taking part in my doctoral committee.

A very special thank you goes to my doctorate program colleagues Victor Coutinho
Lage, Nathalia Felix de Souza, Manuela Trindade Viana, and Maíra Siman Gomes.
Your friendship and camaraderie were essential during this whole journey and,
most especially, during the very demanding qualifying phase.

I should also express my gratitude to IRI’s administrative staff, which advised and
assisted me on all bureaucratic matters. Most notably, I must thank Lia Gonzalez,
the Graduate Studies secretary, who, as a guardian angel, solved most of my admin
issues.

Finally, I ought to acknowledge the most prominent role played by my family, not
only during this major enterprise, but also throughout my whole life. My parents
Jose Benicio and Maria Beatriz since very early in my youth taught me, via
example and enthusiasm, about the gratification of continuing studying and
learning. I am in incalculable debt to my wife Carla and my daughters Tabatha and
Rafaela for their love, comprehension, and patience as I went through this long and
fascinating four-year journey. Without your love this achievement would not have
been possible!
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Abstract

Braga, Carlos Chagas Vianna; Kenkel, Kai Michael (Advisor). Between
absolute war and absolute peacekeeping: searching for a theory of the
use of force on behalf of the international community. Rio de Janeiro,
2015. 279p. Doctoral Thesis - Instituto de Relações Internacionais, Pontifícia
Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.

While Clausewitz’s theoretical framework was instrumental in dealing with
modern wars, the understanding of the use of force on behalf of the international
community is still in urgent need of a working theory. In 1945, the preamble of the
Charter of the United Nations, while emphasizing the determination “to save future
generations from the scourge of war”, established a clear dichotomy between good,
represented by peace, and evil, represented by war. Nevertheless, the attempt to
avoid wars between states and to protect populations ended up creating the
conditions of possibility for the use of force on the behalf of the international
community. The phenomenon of the use of force on behalf of the international
community is therefore somewhat new. It has been mainly characterized by
contemporary robust peacekeeping, humanitarian interventions, and (even more
recently) responsibility to protect (R2P). Inspired by a Clausewitzian approach and
introducing concepts such as absolute peacekeeping and the tertiary trinity, the
present doctoral dissertation proposes a theoretical framework to understand the use
of force on behalf of the international community. It also applies the proposed
theoretical framework in order to understand two recent events: the UN
peacekeeping operation in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and the 2011 intervention in Libya.

Keywords

International community; use of force; peacekeeping; Clausewitz;
humanitarian intervention; responsibility to protect (R2P); absolute peacekeeping;
MINUSTAH; Haiti; Libya.
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Resumo

Braga, Carlos Chagas Vianna; Kenkel, Kai Michael (Orientador). Entre a
Guerra Absoluta e as Operações de Paz Absolutas: Em Busca de uma
Teoria para o Uso da Força em nome da Comunidade Internacional. Rio
de Janeiro, 2015. 279p. Tese de doutorado - Instituto de Relações
Internacionais, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.

Enquanto a moldura teórica de Clausewitz foi essencial para lidar com as
guerras modernas, a compreensão do uso da força em nome da comunidade
internacional ainda demanda urgentemente uma teoria de trabalho. Em 1945, o
preâmbulo da Carta das Nações Unidas, ao enfatizar a determinação de “salvar as
gerações futuras do flagelo da guerra”, estabeleceu uma clara dicotomia entre o
bem, representado pela paz, e o mal, representado pela guerra. Entretanto, esta
tentativa de evitar as guerras entre estados e de proteger as populações acabou
criando as condições de possibilidade para o uso da força em nome da comunidade
internacional. O fenômeno do uso da força em nome da comunidade internacional é
relativamente novo e tem sido caracterizado, principalmente, por operações de
manutenção da paz robustas, intervenções humanitárias e, ainda mais recentemente,
pela responsabilidade de proteger (R2P). Inspirado em uma abordagem
clausewitziana e introduzindo conceitos, tais como as operações de manutenção da
paz absolutas (“absolute peacekeeping”) e a trindade terciária, a presente tese de
doutorado propõe uma moldura teórica para compreender o uso da força em nome
da comunidade internacional, aplicando, ainda, a moldura proposta em dois eventos
recentes: a operação de manutenção da paz no Haiti (MINUSTAH) e a intervenção
de 2011 na Líbia.

Palavras chave

Comunidade internacional; uso da força; operações de manutenção da paz;
Clausewitz; intervenções humanitárias; responsabilidade de proteger (R2P);
manutenção da paz absoluta; MINUSTAH; Haiti; Líbia.
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Contents

1 Introduction 14
1.1 From the use of force in war to the use of force on behalf of the
international community 17
1.2 The search for a theoretical framework for the use of force on
behalf of the international community 19
1.3 Dissertation structure 23
2 Clausewitz and the phenomenon of war 25
2.1 Why Clausewitz? 26
2.2 Clausewitz’s theoretical approach 30
2.3 The political nature of war 34
2.4 The enemy and the question of the use of force 37
2.5 Absolute war 39
2.6 Moving from abstraction to reality 41
2.7 Limited and unlimited war 46
2.8 Strategy: from the political purpose to the actual use of force 49
2.9 Clausewitz’s war: a contemporary perspective 51
2.10 Clausewitz: a very brief review 55
3 The international community in the international system 58
3.1 The international system 59
3.2 Between balance of power and collective security 61
3.3 Contemporary international security 66
3.4 The question of the use of force, the political, and the enemy 71
3.5 The international community 73
3.6 The question of the legitimacy 77
3.7 Partial conclusions 81
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4 The evolution of the use of force on behalf of the international
community 82
4.1 From traditional to robust peacekeeping 82
4.2 From humanitarian interventions to the responsibility to protect 98
4.3 The Brazilian RwP initiative and the contemporary debate 105
4.4 Interventions by the international community and academic
International Relations 110
4.4.1 The (neo-)realist worldview 110
4.4.2 Interventions in the liberal tradition 113
4.4.3 Constructing a new norm? 115
4.4.4 Cosmopolitan interventions? 118
4.4.5 Sovereignty and intervention: a post-structuralist look. 120
4.4.6 Humanitarian intervention or neocolonialism? A post-colonial
critique. 119
4.5 Interventions of the international community: universal principles x
particular interests 120
4.6 Partial conclusions 122
5 A theoretical proposal 124
5.1 Main changes since Clausewitz’s era: a very brief review 125
5.2 Peacekeeping is not war 126
5.3 Absolute war and absolute peacekeeping 130
5.4 Moving from abstraction to the real-world 134
5.5 The use of force as a function of political objectives 138
5.6 The enemy of all: an International community’s political paradox? 141
5.7 The culminating point of international interventions 143
5.8 The “remarkable trinity” and the international community 145
5.9 Intangible forces and the importance of legitimacy 149
5.10 Preliminary conclusions and insights: the framework 150
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6 Understanding the contemporary use of force on behalf of the
international community in peacekeeping: the case of MINUSTAH in
Haiti 155
6.1 Preliminary considerations 156
6.2 Understanding the Haitian scenario 157
6.3 The role of the international community 159
6.4 The use of force by MINUSTAH 164
6.4.1 The use of force by MINUSTAH as a function of the political
objectives of the international community 178
6.4.2 MINUSTAH and the question of the enemy 181
6.4.3 MINUSTAH and the dialectic between absolute peacekeeping
and absolute war. 188
6.4.4 MINUSTAH and the tertiary trinity 191
6.4.5 Friction within MINUSTAH and the improvisation of the
peacekeeping model 194
6.5 Conclusions 198
7 Understanding the contemporary use of force on behalf of the
international community in humanitarian intervention: the case
of Libya 2011 201
7.1 Preliminary considerations 202
7.2 Understanding the Libyan scenario 203
7.3 The role of the international community 206
7.4 The use of force in Libya 211
7.4.1 The use of force in Libya as a function of the political objectives
of the international community 219
7.4.2 The intervention in Libya and the question of the enemy 222
7.4.3 The Intervention in Libya and the dialectic between absolute
peacekeeping and absolute war 227
7.4.4 The Intervention in Libya and the tertiary trinity 231
7.4.5 Friction during the intervention in Libya 233
7.5 Conclusions 235