Bongjoo Peter Kim

Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Missouri

I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Government and Public Affairs. I earned my PhD in Political Science from the University at Buffalo, where I defended my dissertation titled “Natural Resources in Conflict-Affected Countries and United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.” This project examines how natural resources shape international peacekeeping efforts. In addition to my doctoral degree, I hold a BA in Chinese Language and Literature and International Trade from Sung Kyun Kwan University, an MA in International Relations from Seoul National University, and an MA in Global Affairs from the University at Buffalo, SUNY.
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My research interests include the effectiveness of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, deployment patterns and mission types, civilian victimization, and human rights. My dissertation examines how natural resource wealth in fragile states shapes UN deployments and their capacity to protect civilians. Beyond this project, I study how the regime type of foreign supporters influences state repression and how human rights reputations, measured through the Universal Periodic Review, affect Security Council decisions to authorize missions. Ongoing work analyzes how public perceptions of performance versus principle sustain support for peacekeeping, how mission robustness together with refugee-protection capacity relates to conflict-related sexual violence, and how government ideology and partisan cues shape confidence in the UN.

​It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it.
​And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. 
- Eleanor Roosevelt