The United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Challenges

2013

As a body composed of the governments of the major nations on earth, the United Nations is a powerful diplomatic peace negotiator and world actor. Its ability to function as it was designed is of the utmost importance to international security. With the UN we have a chance to make peace a reality for the world; without it, we face a multitude of states acting in self-interest and at cross purposes. Through a comparison of current and past UN operations using the UN's own criteria for success, this paper highlights several inadequacies in current United Nations peacekeeping operations. This paper then examines the potential causes of this inadequacy and the potential consequences if it continues. Finally, there will be a consideration of policy options that the UN could pursue in order to address these problems which undermine its legitimacy and, in some cases, cost the world in human lives.

The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations were introduced in 1948 after turmoil in the Middle East. Since then, peacekeeping has matured and evolved in order to try to provide stability and security around the world. Many challenges and missions have crossed the path of UN peacekeeping operations, which consequently brought a great forum of discussion between the pro-peacekeeping advocates and the groups that critique it. This essay argues that UN peacekeeping operations are difficult to justify, and need a reform in order to meet the needs for 21st century security threats in order to guaranty a sustainable peace. It needs to be emphasized that peacekeeping was and still is unique in its features as each mission is different and has its individual areas of issues and successes. Thus, it is advised to look at peacekeeping as a toolbox that provides specific solutions for specific issues, rather than a complete practice that fits all. This diversity creates gaps and leads to criticism that this paper will address. Since the post Cold War, UN peacekeeping operations (UN PKO, also known as DPKO, UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations) have evolved from their initial purpose of “facilitate[ing] ‘liberal international relations’ whereby states resolve their differences through open diplomacy… [to a] concept [that acknowledges that] violent conflict is related to illiberal governance” (Bellamy, 2004: 151). This paper acknowledges that UN PKO, or a similar body of reaction and protection is necessary. In order to lay fundamental grounds to this study, this essay will trace the emergence and development of peacekeeping in the context of the UN. It is important to discuss the UN in great details, as it is the driving vehicle that makes peacekeeping what it is. It sets the ground rules of conduct and gives its legitimacy. Second, realist, and neo institutionalism ideology on its course of actions will further deepen the understanding of the concept of peacekeeping. It will look at three stages of peacekeeping: the 1990s, period of trial and error with the example of Somalia, then the 2000s, dominated by Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2010s and the first mandate of the use of force strategically in DRC. It needs to be said that Iraq and Afghanistan were not UN peacekeeping missions. However, for this study it is crucial to include them, because these conflicts were decisive in the re-evaluation of UN PKO structure. Therefore, this essay will show through these examples that peacekeeping since its initial mandate is weak, unclear, and becomes difficult to justify due to the changing nature of warfare. This essay also aims to clarify the concept of governance because the main features of traditional peacekeeping were engraved in the notion of liberal international relations through open diplomacy to illiberal governance within conflict. Third, this paper will look at US policy for peacekeeping such as the Clinton policy review and the brief example of Guatemala. This will demonstrate that governmental willingness and cooperation remains a vital part in the whole process of peacekeeping. Despite good intentions and efforts to make it work, UN PKO do not provide a balanced account of power between stronger and stable states against weaker and destabilized states. Therefore, by looking at the undermined position of the UN and UN PKO, this paper will conclude that peacekeeping is not an effective practice post Cold War. In addition, it does not meet the demands to alleviate security threats and provide a sustainable peace around the world. Importantly, for the purpose of this argument, this study is only focused on criticizing UN PKO in the post Cold War era without incorporating any aspects of the role and power of the media in the 20-21st century and robust peacekeeping.

1996

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Although the demand for UN peacekeepers shows little sign of abating, a sense of uncertainty and malaise continues to colour discussions about the future of UN peacekeeping. Of the many issues facing the UN High Level Panel on Peace Operations that was set up by Secretary-General in 2014, the use of force by UN peacekeepers is likely to attract particular attention. It is also likely to prove divisive, as it has proved to be both among member states and within the Secretariat. While there are steps that can be taken to strengthen the capacity of the UN to mount and conduct field operations, Mats Berdal and David Ucko argue that the way forward does not lie simply in entrusting UN forces with ever more 'robust' war-fighting mandates. Instead, more systematic attention needs to be given to the vital task of linking, in a strategically meaningful sense, the activities of UN peacekeepers to political processes aimed at bringing violent conflict to an end. Among other things, this will require far greater honesty than has been displayed to date among member states about their own responsibility in enabling the UN to do what they ask of it.

A study of human security and robustness in peacekeeping then and now Abstract:

2015

IntroductionThe creation and the development of a peacekeeping function is one of the most crucial achievements of the United Nations (UN) towards materializing its mission of maintaining the international peace and security. The peacekeeping function of the UN which is known as "traditional" or "old" peacekeeping during the Cold War era includes simple activities such as monitoring the cease-fire agreements after the termination of the conflicts within the inter-state and intrastate conflicts notably the former.The current international agenda reveals that after the end of the Cold War, the traditional peacekeeping perception has undergone through significant changes. Both the principles and the activities included in the peacekeeping operations have been affected within the emergence of the new world of disorder. The new peacekeeping operations are more assertive and interventionist in nature in order to be capable of responding to the ethnic and religious intr...

Revista Paranaense de Desenvolvimento, 2019

Post-conflict societies struggle with several interlocking problems that often relate to security and legitimacy. To address these issues, the international community has often turned to Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) or Security Sector Reform (SSR) programs. In this article, the authors present different aspects of these evolving concepts and what theoretical problems each tool aim to resolve. Furthermore, a symbiosis is found to exist between the ability of PKOs to provide protection in the immediate aftermath of conflict and the long-term benefits that SSR provides through the creation of accountable, efficient and professional security institutions. PKOs contribute to creating necessary preconditions successful SSR implementation, namely a safe environment. However, four additional preconditions must be met: a common vision, external support, local ownership and donor collaboration. Inability to provide these conditions will lead to a sub-optimal implementation and a security sector reform failing to deliver legitimate and professional institutions.

The recent adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2436 on UN peacekeeping is the latest development in an ongoing debate on how to improve peacekeeping performance. Africa's status as both the largest provider of troops and the continent hosting most current peace operations, positions it at the heart of this discussion. This policy brief critically examines two of the options identified to improve peacekeeping: more troop contributions from states with advanced military capability and better training for peacekeepers. Specifically, it highlights challenges with training troops from (semi-) authoritarian and post-conflict states and points to the importance of improving civil-military relations in order to enhance peacekeeping performance.

Drawing from a diverse range of military, policing, academic and policymakers’ experiences, this book seeks to provide solutions of how national militaries and police can work together to better support future United Nations peacekeeping operations. It addresses the growing tension between increasing non-combat related responsibilities being placed on land forces and the ability of UN peacekeeping forces to fulfil the demands of government and development tasks in fragile and conflict-affected environments. An original contribution to the debate on UN peacekeeping reforms that includes constructing an enhanced partnership for peacekeeping; building on renewed commitment to share the burden and for regional cooperation; providing peacekeepers with the necessary capabilities to protect civilians; and supporting nations in transition from conflict to stabilisation. This book offers the very latest in informed analysis and decision-making on UN peacekeeping reform.

The nature of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations has evolved considerably since 1948. Most contemporary conflict zones are full of violence, resulting in a large number of civilian casualties. So much so, that even the peacekeepers have now become major targets of violence and asymmetric threats. The complex environment in which these operations are conducted today is far more varied than ever before, and therefore to cope with it, peacekeeping organisations bring together disparate configurations of civilians, troops from armed forces and police under a unified political leadership. Military components, drawn from different countries, bring to the table a wide range of experience, capabilities and capacities. However, this diversity imposes significant challenges to integration, coherence and operational performance. The military component, which is primarily responsible to create a secure environment, is generally seen as not doing much to safeguard the lives of innocent civilians. Seized with this realty, a number of studies have already taken place to find ways to address these challenges. The United Nations Peacekeeping Challenge: The Importance of the Integrated Approach

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2013

UN has carried out 67 peacekeeping operations since 1948. Surprisingly, 54 of them have taken place since 1988. As international relations are dominated by Great Powers to analyse their attitudes through peacekeeping after 1990, it can be clearly seen how realpolitik still shapes the political world. Peacekeeping was adopted during the Cold War as a substitute for collective security and in response to the stalemate between the Permanent Members of the Security Council. In practice, UN peace operations have developed as ad hoc responses to particular crises. Therefore the key concepts of traditional peacekeeping (consent, impartiality, minimum use of force) are often interpreted differently in different missions, broadening the way in which the international community understands what a threat to international peace is. Andersson (2000) asserts that the increasing number of peacekeeping operations after 1990 was due to a change from realpolitik to idealpolitik. UN Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali reflected in his document Agenda for Peace the same universalist and communitarian approach; and has declared the commitment to the primacy of values over interests in the international community. The egoistic passions and self-interests of Great Powers who are the permanent members of Security Council have motivated the increasing number of UN peacekeeping operations after 1990. The proposed paper will try to explore such a paradigm shift in the UN Peacekeeping operation.

Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations

2018

The United Nations has the largest deployed force in the world today. More than 110,000 UN peacekeepers are charged with keeping the peace in 1 6 operations across the globe. In both scholarly work and in American public opinion, UN peacekeeping has been assessed as largely successful.1 Peacekeepers have patrolled borders to prevent states from going back to war, and they have helped to knit many countries back together after civil war. In a very few but horrific and memorable instances, UN peacekeepers failed miserably to implement their mandates (in Somalia, Rwanda, and during the genocide in Srebrenica, BosniaHerzegovina). As a result of those failures, peacekeepers have been granted more robust "peace enforcement" mandates to protect civilians. However, in far more but less -noted places Namibia, El Salvador, Mozambique, Cambodia, Croatia (Eastern Slavonia), Timor Leste, Burundi, and Sierra Leonepeacekeepers have successfully implemented complex mandates, without using...

2008