The top Global Observatory reads of 2018 were dominated by two series: one on the controversial “Cruz report” on peacekeeping fatalities and injuries; and another on Secretary-General António Guterres’ Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative aimed at reforming United Nations peacekeeping. The two series accounted for almost 50 percent of the top 25 pieces of the year, including the most popular article and interview. Other top articles covered organized crime and counterterrorism, sustaining peace, and women, peace, and security.

The trend of articles from previous years receiving high readership continued. Our 2014 article on top peace and security issues to watch, a 2016 piece on the war on drugs in the Philippines, the updated Catalogue of Indices from 2016, and articles on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the African Union Mission in Somalia from 2017 were all among the most read.

Below are the top 10 articles from 2018:

A4P

Nailing Down the Primacy of Politics in UN Peacekeeping: An Insider Perspective
Counterterrorism and Challenges to Peacekeeping Impartiality

The Cruz report

Cruz Report: The Politics of Force and the United Nations’ Peacekeeping Trilemma
Are UN Peacekeeping Missions Moving Toward “Chapter Seven and a Half” Operations?
Hostile Forces: Cruz Report Risks Distracting from Strategic Context

Central Africa and the Sahel

Shake-up of G5 Sahel Joint Force Starts at Home, in Mali
Cameroon’s Worsening Anglophone Crisis Highlights Need for Dialogue and Inclusion

Human Rights

Is “Human Rights” a Western Concept?

Financing UN Peacekeeping

With Peacekeeping Budget Approved, More Contentious Negotiations Lie Ahead
In US Failure to Pay Peacekeeping Bills, Larger UN Financing Questions Raised