Peacekeepers and Their Wives: American Participation in the Multinational Force and Observers

(Hardback)

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David and Mady Segal analyze the adaptation of American soldiers assigned to the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai Desert in support of the Camp David Accords, in the context of the evolution of multinational peacekeeping forces as mechanisms for achieving international security. The reactions of soldiers and their wives to the peacekeeping assignment are considered from the perspective of the social construction of reality, in which the role of the military has been defined as war-fighting. The press has ignored peacekeeping until very recently, and it falls to military organizations, to soldiers and their families, to make sense of the mission. Lessons learned from the Sinai MFO experience should be used to help U.S. troops better prepare for their increasing role in multinational peacekeeping.

Reviews

Peacekeepers should be required reading for researchers and practitioners involved in any facet of peace operations, or multinational efforts. The book contains numerous significant findings, and consolidates and synthesizes the history of peacekeeping operations, including an in-depth look at American forces in the Sinai. The authors review changes in the nature of the military function, the history of peacekeeping operations, and the issues that remain to be resolved.-Armed Forces and Society
The crux of this essay is that family support groups are virtually indispensable to maintain stability within many military homes. The book attests to the remarkably high anxiety threshold that wives of peacekeepers develop through a provervial trail by fire.-The Friday Review of Defense Literature
The new instutionalism has yet to embrace studies of the military. Tthis book is an exception.-Social Forces
"The crux of this essay is that family support groups are virtually indispensable to maintain stability within many military homes. The book attests to the remarkably high anxiety threshold that wives of peacekeepers develop through a provervial trail by fire."-The Friday Review of Defense Literature
"The new instutionalism has yet to embrace studies of the military. Tthis book is an exception."-Social Forces
"Peacekeepers should be required reading for researchers and practitioners involved in any facet of peace operations, or multinational efforts. The book contains numerous significant findings, and consolidates and synthesizes the history of peacekeeping operations, including an in-depth look at American forces in the Sinai. The authors review changes in the nature of the military function, the history of peacekeeping operations, and the issues that remain to be resolved."-Armed Forces and Society

Author Bio

DAVID R. SEGAL is Professor of Sociology and of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He has written or edited six books--The Transformation of European Communist Societies, Recruiting for Uncle Sam, Life in the Rank and File, The All-Volunteer Force, The Social Psychology of Military Service, and Society and Politics--as well as many articles for scholarly and academic journals. MADY WECHSLER SEGAL is Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Maryland./e She has published many articles in such journals as Social Science Quarterly, Defense Analysis, and Armed Forces & Society.