Introduction

A one-day roundtable examining the UK’s relationship with UN peace operations in the context of Brexit was held on 7 September 2018 at RUSI. Organised by the British International Studies Association (BISA) Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding Working Group in partnership with RUSI, the roundtable took as its starting point the broader question of the role of multilateral institutions in UK foreign and defence policy after the UK formally leaves the EU, and sought to identify and understand the role of peace operations within the framework of the ‘Global Britain’ agenda. 

Some 30 delegates from academia and the policy and NGO sectors provided perspectives on how different forms of engagement with UN peace operations could strengthen the UK government’s commitment to supporting a rules-based international system. The roundtable provided an opportunity for more focused policy discussions pertaining to how the UK commits to UN operations, what the commitment should look like, and what opportunities and challenges exist in the varying ways in which the UK can approach UN operations. This conference report captures the key themes and issues raised by the participants.