THE SPECTRUM
DEFENCE & DIPLOMACY
Blue Doves in Flight: Towards a New Model of Peacekeeping Communications by
Justine Fung and Matthew Ader
Strategic communications is a critical part of the United Nations Peacekeeping’s (UNPK) mission. However, current communications are incoherent: they do not shape the information domain to the organisation’s advantage and fail to promote a modern and relatable image of UNPK to the public.1 Moreover, their engagement with new and emerging forms of media remains relatively minimal. This is not sufficient if the UN wishes to defend and advance the cause of peace in this century. This policy paper argues that UNPK should adopt a humanising grand strategic narrative encompassing reforms to three core functional areas - internal communications, crisis communication, and external engagement. In so doing, it will ensure success and greater cohesion in the increasingly contested information battlespace of the 21st century. “Grand Strategic Narrative” Theoretical Approach The core of UNPK’s communication challenge goes beyond poor process and coordination. It is the fundamental lack of a grand strategic narrative - the absence of a cohesive vision and an inability to shape the information operations environment to be more conducive to that vision.2 UNPK needs this overarching grand strategic narrative because it must coordinate messaging across a diverse organisation towards a broad range of stakeholders and departments. While nominally co-
ordinated by the UN Communications Group, unity of message is difficult to generate.3 More than that, though, the key source of its legitimacy and power lies in the often-neglected role of communications. The typical peacekeeper is a Bangladeshi teenager in a blue helmet.4 But with the right narrative and public perception, said teenager becomes a larger-than-life representative of the international peacekeeping community. Peacekeeping is not and cannot be a simple matter of hard power. Lasting peace and stability stems from political mediation.5 A grand strategic narrative which taps into and enhances UNPK’s often-neglected soft power capabilities will enhance non-violent dispute resolution. This will create a more effective peacekeeping institution, and contribute substantially to the UN’s goal of helping people build better lives and countries achieve peace and sustainable development.6 What form might such a grand strategic narrative take for UNPK? We believe it should humanise peacekeepers and, perhaps oddly, emphasise their frailty. Right now, the peacekeeping communications approach - insofar as it is coordinated enough to describe as a singular object - is highly corporate. It talks about broad objectives and statistics, putting itself forward as a national-level solution. This approach can
19
