New Books in Military History · Marshall Poe

Nicole Wegner, "Martialling Peace: How the Peacekeeper Myth Legitimises Warfare" (Edinburgh UP, 2023)

·51 min·3 clips

Canada’s Afghanistan mission was repeatedly reframed through “Peacekeeper 2.0” and the “Support the Troops” campaign.

1. New Books in Military History speaks with Nicole Wegner about Martialling Peace: How the Peacekeeper Myth Legitimises Warfare and the Canadian peacekeeping myth. 2. Miranda Melcher hosts the interview, and Nicole Wegner, a lecturer at the University of Auckland, explains why her 2023 Edinburgh University Press book matters. 3. The episode asks what peacekeeping is really for, and Wegner argues that the book examines how stories about peace can legitimize warfare. 4. Wegner names her doctoral research on the Canadian peacekeeping myth and links it to Canada’s participation in the ISAF missions in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2014. 5. She cites Bell Hooks’ line about resisting “passive acceptance of violence in daily life” and uses it to frame the book’s critique of militarism. 6. Wegner defines “martial peace” through Alison Howell’s 2018 article “Forget Militarization” and Howell’s concept of “martial politics.” 7. She says martial peace is a narrow version of peace that prioritizes order over justice, well-being, and connection. 8. Wegner compares this to negative peace and says it focuses on the absence of armed conflict rather than broader forms of peace. 9. She defines myths as widely believed narratives that cast ideological commitments as apolitical truths. 10. Wegner says the peacekeeping myth is the belief that peacekeeping is a moral, softer, or more legitimate use of militarized force. 11. She points to the United Nations “Trinity” of traditional peacekeeping: limited force, consent of warring parties, and presumed impartiality. 12. Wegner describes how academic peacekeeping research often measures effectiveness while leaving the political assumptions of peacekeeping uninterrogated. 13. She argues that peacekeeping is frequently treated as distinct from warfare by its object rather than its nature. 14. Wegner says myths are “one dimensional” because they simplify complex realities into easily shared narratives. 15. She argues that this simplification helps peacekeeping mobilize consent for military expansion and broader militarism. 16. Wegner says Canada’s peacekeeping myth was reinforced by Lester B. Pearson, the 1956 Suez crisis, the Nobel Prize, the loony, the ten-dollar note, Heritage Minutes, beer commercials, folk music, statues, and the Reconciliation Statue in Ottawa. 17. The interview is structured as a long-form scholarly conversation, with Melcher asking direct questions and Wegner answering in dense but clear segments. 18. Wegner’s style is analytical and measured, and she moves between theory, Canadian examples, and specific historical cases. 19. Listeners interested in Canadian foreign policy, military myths, and feminist IR. 20. Listeners wanting a light, anecdotal history tour.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from New Books in Military History