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
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