Vanessa F Newby PhD

I am a Senior Lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne .

I am a feminist scholar of gender, security, and global governance focused on the micro and meso-levels of international politics. My research shows how credibility, legitimacy and authority are constructed through the everyday interactions, routines, and rituals that shape the Women, Peace & Security (WPS) Agenda and United Nations peace operations. Using a practice-relational approach and insights from sociology, I pair conceptual innovation with deeply empirical fieldwork in Europe and the Middle East.

My first book, Peacekeeping in South Lebanon: Credibility and Local Cooperation (Syracuse University Press, 2018), examined how credibility structures relations between peacekeepers and local populations. I am currently co-editing two volumes: Imagining the WPS Agenda in the Middle East (Brill/De Gruyter, forthcoming 2026), which offers the first systematic study of how the Women, Peace and Security agenda is localized across the MENA region, and The Oxford Handbook of Interpreting Peacekeeping (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2027), which consolidates practice-relational and interpretive approaches to the study of peace operations.

My research has been published in leading journals including Global Governance, European Journal of International Security, Third World Quarterly, and Global Studies Quarterly. I am also committed to policy engagement and public debate, contributing analysis to The Conversation, Le Monde, The Interpreter, Australian Outlook, and The Strategist.

Currently, my work investigates rituals in peace and conflict, the localization of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the MENA region, and the development of relational peacekeeping as a framework for understanding how peace operations function as dynamic, everyday practices of global governance.

My research interests include:

• The Women Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda
• Gender in Global Governance
• United Nations Peacekeeping & Special Political Missions
• Middle East & Mediterranean Regions

Follow me on BlueSky: @vfnewby.bsky.social

Contact me on: vanessa.newby@monash.edu

See my media engagement on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drvfnewby

Find me on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-newby-phd-72bba421/

1. The Role of Rituals in Peace and Conflict Settings

Date: January 2024 – December 2026

Co-Investigator: Professor Chiara Ruffa, Sciences Po

In this project, we investigate how rituals structure interaction in peace and conflict settings, shaping the ways emotions are contained, hostility is managed, and fragile equilibriums are sustained. While classical theories of ritual emphasize their integrative potential, evidence from cases such as the UNIFIL Tripartite Meetings in South Lebanon shows that rituals can also reproduce antagonism, entrench divisions, and defer substantive political action. We approach rituals as micro-structures of global governance, examining how their choreography, repetition, and avoidance tactics generate both predictability and constraint. By extending this analysis across peacekeeping, mediation, and diplomatic forums, the project advances scholarship on the micro-politics of conflict management while offering practitioners insights into the ambivalent role of rituals: as mechanisms that stabilize hostile relations but may fall short of building genuine reconciliation.

2. Localizing the Women Peace and Security Agenda in the MENA Region

Date: January 2022 – October 2025.

Co-editor: Dr Bilge Sahin, Erasmus University.

This volume (Brill/De Gruyter, forthcoming 2026) offers the first systematic study of how the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is interpreted, adapted, and implemented across the Middle East and North Africa. Through detailed case studies of countries including Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia, and the UAE, the book examines how local actors, governments, and international organizations negotiate the meaning of WPS in diverse political and cultural contexts. By highlighting both the opportunities and limits of WPS localization, the volume provides new insights into the dynamics of gender, security, and governance in a region often overlooked in global WPS scholarship.

3. The Oxford Handbook of Interpreting Peacekeeping

Co-editor: Professor Chiara Ruffa, Sciences Po

This forthcoming volume (Oxford University Press, 2027) brings together 43 leading scholars and practitioners to reframe peacekeeping as a field of study. The Handbook develops an interpretive and relational research agenda, highlighting how peace operations are shaped by everyday practices, narratives, and interactions rather than only by mandates or outcomes. By bridging feminist, constructivist, postcolonial, and practice-based approaches, it provides the most comprehensive account to date of how peacekeeping is understood, studied, and experienced across different contexts.

4. Manifesting Mandates: Navigating Ambiguity in UN Special Political Missions

Co-Investigator: Dr Tom Buitelaar, Universiteit Leiden

This project investigates how United Nations Special Political Missions (SPMs) translate the often ambiguous mandates and directives of the UN Security Council into action in complex conflict environments. As large military peace operations decline, SPMs are becoming central to conflict prevention, mediation, and peace agreement implementation, yet remain under-researched. Through comparative case studies in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America, the project examines how SPM staff interpret top-down directives, navigate great power competition, and adapt to local political dynamics. In doing so, it sheds light on how authority and legitimacy in global governance are negotiated on the ground, offering new insights into the micro-politics of collective conflict management at a time of crisis in multilateralism.

Monograph

Newby, Vanessa F. (2018) Peacekeeping in South Lebanon: Credibility and local cooperation. New York: Syracuse University Press.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

Newby, Vanessa F. (2022) ‘Offering the Carrot and Hiding the Stick? Conceptualizing Credibility in UN Peacekeeping’, Global Governance 28/3:303-329. https://doi.org/10.1163/19426720-02803003

Kisyova, Maria-Elena,  Yannick Veilleux-Lepage and Vanessa F Newby (2022) ‘Conversations with other (alt-right) women: How do far-right female influencers narrate an alt-right identity’, Journal for Deradicalization, 31/Summer.

Newby Vanessa F. & Alanna O’Malley (2021) ‘Where are the Women Now? Implementing Resolution 1325 20 years on’, Global Studies Quarterly 1/3, https://doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksab017

Newby, Vanessa F. and Clotilde Sebag (2021) ‘Gender sidestreaming? Analysing gender mainstreaming in national militaries and international peacekeeping’, European Journal of International Security 6/2: 148-170, https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2020.20

Newby, Vanessa F. (2020) ‘Ships in the Night? The ANZUS States and the provision of HADR in the Asia-Pacific’, Australian Journal of International Affairs 74/1: 72-88, doi.org/10.1080/10357718.2019.1693497

Newby, Vanessa F. (2018) ‘Power, Politics and Perception: the impact of foreign policy on civilian-peacekeeper relations’, Third World Quarterly 39/4: 661-676, doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2017.1334542

Newby, Vanessa F. (2017) ‘Positive Hybridity? Unpacking UN Security Sector Reform in South Lebanon’, Contemporary Politics 23/2: 156-174, doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2016.1233756

Newby, Vanessa F. (2016) ‘The Pieces that Make the Peace’: The micro processes of international security’, International Peacekeeping 23/1: 133-157, doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2015.1110790

Newby, Vanessa F. (2013) ‘Playing with Fire: Understanding the Sunni-Shi’a Sectarian Lifecycle’, Griffith Asia Quarterly 1/ 2/3: 77-104.

Book Chapters

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa (2025) ‘Gender Sidestreaming: Why women remain scarce in international peace and security. In Handbook on Gender and Security. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Edited by Jutta Joachim, Annica Kronsell & Natalia Dalmer, pp.124-140.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa. (2024) ‘United Nations peacekeeping, bureaucracy and practice’. In Routledge Handbook of International Organization, 2nd Eds. Edited by Marieke Louis and Bob Reinalda, pp. 560-572.

Ruffa, Chiara and Vanessa F. Newby (2024) ‘Peacekeeping operations and civil–military relations: an emerging research agenda?’. In Research Handbook on Civil-Military Relations edited by Croissant, Aurel, David Kuehn and David Pion-Berlin. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp.219 – 230.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2021) ‘Embracing the particular in Globalizing IR’. In Beatrix Campbell. Ed. Globalising Regionalism and IR. Bristol: Bristol University Press, pp. 49 – 73.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2021) ‘Ships in the Night? The ANZUS States and the provision of HADR in the Asia-Pacific’. In Jones, Catherine and Garren Mulloy Eds.  East Asia, Peacekeeping Operations, and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief. London: Routledge, pp. 72-85.

Book Reviews

Newby, V. F. (2024). Deploying Feminism: The Role of Gender in NATO Military Operations: by Stefanie von Hlatky, Oxford University Press, 2022. International Peacekeeping 1–3. https://doi-org.ezproxy.leidenuniv.nl/10.1080/13533312.2024.2348456

Newby, Vanessa F. (2019) Military Cultures in Peace and Stability Operations: Afghanistan and Lebanon. Chiara Ruffa, 2018, University of Pennsylvania Press. Peace and Change 44/4: 585 – 587.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2015) ‘How Peace Operations Work’, Jeni Whalan, 2013, Oxford University Press. Global Responsibility to Protect 7/1: 109-111.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2008) ‘The Islamic Republic and the World: Global Dimensions of the Iranian Revolution’, Maryam Panah, 2007, Pluto Press. Australian Journal of International Affairs 62/3: 438-439.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2007) ‘The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth’, Barry Naughton, 2006, MIT Press. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 61/4: 564-566.

Working Papers

Newby, Vanessa F. (2019) ‘Challenges for female peacekeepers can come from within UN militaries. Women, peace and security: Defending progress and responding to emerging challenges, Strategic Insights No. 140, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, June.

Newby, Vanessa F. (2016) ‘Walk the Line: An investigation of the micro processes of a UN peacekeeping operation’, Working Paper #37, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 28 September.

Hunjoon Kim & Vanessa F. Newby, (2014) ‘The Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the DPRK: Background and Activities’, Brief No. 6, Social Science Korea Human Rights Forum, National Research Foundation of Korea, June.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa. US & Israel Push to End UN Mandate in South Lebanon Risks Regional Chaos. The Conversation, 26 August 2025.

Newby, Vanessa & Chiara Ruffa. Lebanon peace deal: Israel-Hezbollah agreement needs to be guaranteed by the Lebanese armed forces. The Conversation, 4 November 2024.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa. IDF actions against UN peacekeepers suggest Israel may be considering occupying part of southern Lebanon. The Conversation, 15 October 2024.

Vanessa F. Newby. It’s Very Important for the UN to have a Spotlight Shone on the Conflict. Interview with CGTN Europe.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa UN Peacekeepers at Risk As They Deliver Protection for Civilians in South Lebanon. The Conversation, 10 October 2024.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Israel Has Invaded Lebanon Six Times in the Past 50 Years: A Timeline of Events’. The Conversation, 01 October 2024.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa ‘It would be a mistake for Israel to invade Lebanon – here’s why’. The Conversation, 29 September 2024.

Newby, Vanessa F. & Chiara Ruffa. ‘In South Lebanon a Simple Error of Judgement Could Trigger an Escalation’, Le Monde, 1 December 2023.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Israel-Lebanon border could become a flashpoint in Gaza war’. The Religion & Ethics Report, ABC Radio, Australia.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Hezbollah and the Future of the UN Peace Mission in South Lebanon’, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 25 October 2023.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Worried About Gaza? South Lebanon Will Be Worse’, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute  for International Affairs, 20 October 2023.

Newby, Vanessa F. Fallout In A Country In Freefall: Lebanon A Year After The Beirut Blast, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 4 August 2021.

Newby, Vanessa F. Lebanon in Crisis: A Tale of Two Coronas, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 17 June 2021.

Newby,Vanessa F. Gender Sidestreaming? How women slip through the cracks in national militaries and peacekeeping, Women in International Security, 12 May 2021.

Salama, Diego & Newby, Vanessa F. UNIFIL and the Beirut Blast: What role should peace operations play in humanitarian disasters? Leiden Security and Global Affairs Blog, Leiden University, 9 September 2020.

Newby, Vanessa F.Impediments to implementing the women, peace and security agenda, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 12 June 2020.

Newby, Vanessa F. Pandemics and climate change mean it’s time to consider ANZUS hospital ships, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 30 March 2020.

Newby, Vanessa F. ANZUS Cooperation in Humanitarian Assistance And Disaster Response in The Asia-Pacific: Ships in The Night? Australian Outlook, Australian Institute for International Affairs, 5 February 2020.

Newby, Vanessa F. Lebanon Protests: A New Generation Calls for Change, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute for International Affairs, 8 November 2019.

Newby, Vanessa F. Women Face an ‘Extra Responsibility’ in the Armed Forces, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 28 August 2019.

Newby, Vanessa F. Challenges for female peacekeepers can come from within UN militaries, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 4 August 2019.

Newby, Vanessa F. The hunt for Hezbollah’s weapons and the limits of civil–military cooperation, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 20 August 2018.

Newby, Vanessa F. A Fragile Spring? Lebanon Here and Now, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 18 December 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. The Mysterious Case of the Missing Prime Minister, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 22 November 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. Don’t Ask the UN to Fight America’s War Against Hezbollah, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 30 August 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. Trump’s vital but confused support for Lebanon, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 31 July 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. Lebanon’s Elections: War By Other Means? Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 30 June 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. US Policy on Lebanon Should be to Keep Calm and Carry On, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 6 February 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. The Future of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, Protection Gateway, Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, 11 January 2017.

Newby, Vanessa F. Walking the Blue Line: Lebanon’s Security Sector Reform, Sustainable Security, Oxford Research Group, 16 December, 2016.

Newby, Vanessa F. Lebanon: On Remembering and Forgetting, Australian Outlook, Australian Institute of International Affairs, 19 October, 2016.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Lebanon’s Fragile Stability’ Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 20 July 2016.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘“60 Minutes” Detention highlights women’s rights issues in Lebanon’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 13 April 2016.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘When Will the Presidential Merry-go-round stop spinning?’ Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 18, February 2016.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Lebanon Bombing Strikes A Street of Joy’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 16 November 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘The Refugee Crisis: Australia needs to make up ground on humanitarian issues’, Red Couch Blog, Griffith University, 16 September 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Protests in Lebanon: Demonstrators should remain focused on the constitution’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 4 April 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Lebanon’s Garbage Crisis Reveals Political Paralysis’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 11 August 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘In Vienna the US-Iran Story Comes Full Circle’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 22 July 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Palestinian communities in the Levant vulnerable to Islamic extremism’ Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 24 April 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. The Shrinking Space for Piety Without Violence, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 13 March 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘How does the Arab World View ISIS?’ Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 6 March 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Balancing Act: Jordan’s Fight Against ISIS’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 20 February 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘US in the Middle East: With Friends Like These…’ Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 9 February 2015.

Newby, Vanessa F. ‘Hassan Nasrallah on ISIS’, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 4 November 2014.

Newby, Vanessa F. The Future of UN Peacekeeping May Lie in the Past, Protection Gateway, Asia Pacific Centre for Responsibility to Protect, 24 March, 2014.

Newby, Vanessa F. Collective Historical Memory and its Effects on Syrian Refugees, Protection Gateway, Asia Pacific Centre for Responsibility to Protect, 11 June, 2013.

Newby, Vanessa F. Lebanon: Unmistakable Signs of Decline, Lowy Interpreter, Lowy Institute for International Policy, 17 April 2013.

Although the concept of credibility has been identified by the United Nations as a significant factor in successful peacekeeping operations, its role has largely been ignored in the literature on peacekeeping at the local level. In this book, Newby provides the first detailed examination of credibility’s essential place in peacekeeping. With empirically rich analysis, Newby explores the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and its navigation of political tensions in one of the world’s geopolitical flashpoints, a place where the mission’s work is constrained by weak local legitimacy born of a complex political situation. Identifying four types of credibility—technical, material, security, and responsiveness—Newby traces the ways in which building credibility served UNIFIL and has enabled the mission to exercise its mandate despite significant challenges on the ground. Peacekeeping in South Lebanon unpacks the day-to-day business of running a peace mission and argues that credibility should be regarded as an independent construct when considering how a peacekeeping operation functions and survives.

Reviews

“Newby’s book unpacks what credibility is in peacekeeping and shows why it is an important factor in the success of peace operations.”—The Daily Star

“This book has huge value in contributing to an increasingly utilized—and for me a very productive—trend connecting the local to the international by borrowing from both anthropological observations as well as more conventional IR literature.”—Karim Makdisi, associate professor of political studies, American University of Beirut

“Newby provides a detailed picture of the everyday operations of possibly the most contested and dangerous peacekeeping mission on earth—UNIFIL on the Lebanon–Israel border. She shows that in a context in which its legitimacy is bitterly contested, UNIFIL relies on a carefully maintained credibility among all parties to ensure peace along that volatile border. This book is essential reading for those interested in peacekeeping, international security, and the effectiveness of institutions in an increasingly fractious world.”—Michael Wesley, Australian National University

“How does the United Nations mission in Lebanon operate on the ground? How can peacekeepers build credibility? Why does it matter? These questions are both important and under-explored. Vanessa Newby answers them through an effective blend of thought-provoking theoretical insights and engaging anecdotes.”—Séverine Autesserre, author of Peaceland: Conflict Resolution and the Everyday Politics of International Intervention

“Newby provides a compelling history of UNIFIL’s efforts, namely preventing skirmishes from escalating on the UN-demarcated Blue Line, strengthening the Lebanese government’s rule in the region, and providing goods and services to Lebanese in need.”—Middle East Journal

“Newby provides a fresh perspective on what are some age-old peacekeeping issues. However, the focus on credibility and the methodology adopted makes this a valuable contribution to scholarship in this field while also providing practical lessons for current peacekeepers.”—Peace & Change

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