The UN Security Council and Civil War

First Insights from a New Dataset

What is a civil war?

A civil war is an…•armed conflict•between a government and one or more non-state opposition groups•causally linked to a dispute over government and/or territory in the state where force is used and

•resulting in at least 500 battle-related deaths during a given year during the conflict.

Definition based on terminology developed by Uppsala University

Source: IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v. 1.01

Security Council resolutions and civil wars

Source: IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v.1.01

Security Council attention to active civil wars and postconflict situations

Source: IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v.1.01

Security Council demands to civil war parties by thematic category

Source: IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v.1.01

Security Council demands to civil-war parties by region

Security Council demands to civil-war parties by political authority characteristics

Data source: CIDCM Polity IV project, Freedom House Freedom in the World Country Ratings dataset, and IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v.1.01

Security Council demands reiterating prior commitments by civil-war parties

•44% of all demands to civil-war parties in Security Council resolutions reiterate commitments made by all or some conflict parties

•UNSC’s endorsement of peace process raises reputational costs of non-compliance and signals international community’s endorsement of agreement among conflict parties

Source: IPI Security Council Compliance Database, v.1.01

Security Council demands to civil-war parties and the use of sanctions

Next steps in this project

•Analysis of extent and reasons for civil-war parties’ compliance and non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions

•Publication of edited volume and further policy reports

•Publication of major database