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Raymond Aron's vision of liberalism reflects the paradox that ideologies both fuel and restrict democratic debate. This may be related to the history of French liberalism developed by Albert Thibaudet in the inter-war period. This article considers Aron's use of Thibaudet's ideas in his wartime writings. It suggests that these represented a significant step forward from his pre-war approach to pluralism and set certain parameters for his post-war political thought. It is also suggested that Thibaudet's writings led Aron to study the ideas of the nineteenth-century intellectual Ernest Renan. These contributed to his understanding of international relations. While Aron was to lose interest in Renan and Thibaudet, his wartime debt to them represents an important stage in his intellectual evolution and ties him to a distinctively French (if little known) tradition of pluralist thought.

Raymond Aron's vision of liberalism reflects the paradox that ideologies both fuel & restrict democratic debate. This may be related to the history of French liberalism developed by Albert Thibaudet in the inter-war period. This article considers Aron's use of Thibaudet's ideas in his wartime writings. It suggests that these represented a significant step forward from his pre-war approach to pluralism & set certain parameters for his post-war political thought. It is also suggested that Thibaudet's writings led Aron to study the ideas of the nineteenth-century intellectual Ernest Renan. These contributed to his understanding of international relations. While Aron was to lose interest in Renan & Thibaudet, his wartime debt to them represents an important stage in his intellectual evolution & ties him to a distinctively French (if little known) tradition of pluralist thought. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications Ltd.]

This article is a deep dive into those factors in one specific case: The decision to reinforce the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) after the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. This case is a particularly useful case-study of the UN's utility as a framework for peacekeeping because – as we will show – a significant number of actors involved in negotiations around the mission initially assumed that UNIFIL would not survive for long after the war. While many actors in 2006 wanted to see the end of UNFIL, preserving it proved to be the only diplomatically feasible option. Hence, this article explains why UNIFIL avoided closure, and how the issue of the host state consent progressively shaped the negotiation in and outside the Security Council chamber to find a solution to end the conflict. This case-study approach also centres the importance of diplomacy – including but not only at the UN – and of finding the right balance in negotiations to the making of peace operations.