In 2008 IPI formed the Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity, with the intention of creating ideas for action to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations (UN) and its partners to deal effectively with emerging, multifaceted, and global challenges to peace and security.

Through a series of workshops, the Task Forces addressed not only the policy steps that are needed, but also the political and institutional strategies required to implement them. The IPI Blue Papers are the product of this intense process of consultation, which engaged more than sixty UN member states, half of them at ambassadorial level, and seventy experts in a variety of thematic areas. It included the preparation of more than twenty-five background papers and fourteen multiday meetings.

Each Blue Paper includes a section on why action to strengthen capacity in a particular area is needed and a section with ideas for action. The content is based on the Task Force discussions, but does not necessarily represent all the views articulated during the entire process. Although the institutional focus of the Task Forces was primarily the UN, this report aims to assist key stakeholders to prioritize and leverage the comparative advantages of the UN and other multilateral institutions, including their ability to forge productive and sustainable partnerships with other groups and organizations.

• Peacebuilding: IPI Blue Paper no. 10
• Small Arms and Light Weapons: IPI Blue Paper no. 5
• Peace Operations: IPI Blue Paper no. 9
• Weapons of Mass Destruction: IPI Blue Paper no. 3
• Conflict Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect: IPI Blue Paper no. 7
• Transnational Organized Crime: IPI Blue Paper no. 2
• Global Terrorism: IPI Blue Paper no. 4
• Biosecurity: IPI Blue Paper no. 6
• Mediation and Peace Processes: IPI Blue Paper no. 8
• Underdevelopment, Resource Scarcity, and Environmental Degradation: IPI Blue Paper no. 1