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The United Nations was originally organized, "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war."[1] To this end the United Nations established mechanisms for peacekeeping in the U.N. Charter [2] and the first peacekeeping operations (PKOs) were undertaken in the late 1950s. [3]
Though the terms are used differently by different groups, civil and international conflicts that require U.N. intervention can be seen as having three phases.
- In the first phase, violent conflict between parties is ongoing. At this point, "the objective of peacemaking is to end the violence between the contending parties" before peacekeeping forces enter the scene.[4]
- In phase two, a ceasefire has been negotiated, but conflict remains. The chief purpose of U.N. peacekeeping forces, therefore, is to reduce tensions between parties in conflict once a ceasefire has been negotiated so that peaceful relations can resume.
- By phase three, security threats have been diminished to the point that peaceful relations can resume, but often the state and civil society have been so ravaged by war that external efforts are required to rebuild infrastructure, political institutions, and trust among the contending parties. For this, peacebuilding or nation-building efforts are required.
It should be noted that some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) describe peacekeeping as a component of peacebuilding. In this view, peacebuilding includes not only post-conflict demilitarization and nation-building efforts, but also preventive peacekeeping operations and peacemaking efforts.
In this essay, however, peacekeeping will be understood as the second phase of the peace process that is distinct from long-term peacebuilding. This reflects the United Nations' view that peacekeeping is an effort to "monitor and observe peace processes that emerge in post-conflict situations and assist ex-combatants to implement the peace agreements they have signed."[5] This includes the deployment of peacekeeping forces, collective security arrangements, and enforcement of ceasefire agreements. The so-called third phase of peacekeeping described above, on the other hand, is commonly regarded by the UN as part of peacebuilding. Thus, "this module will focus on the second phase of peacekeeping operations described above, the interposition of peacekeeping forces....."
This module will focus on the second phase of peacekeeping operations, the interposition of peacekeeping forces, in order to offer ideas about how peacekeeping can help intractable conflicts.
A Framework for Peace
Pamela Aall of the U.S. Institute of Peace, uses Cyprus, Korea and Sri Lanka as examples of how sometimes third parties can make things worse, not better.
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Any peacekeeping force is organized with the following six characteristics:
- neutrality (impartiality in the dispute and nonintervention in the fighting)
- light military equipment
- use of force only in self-defense[6]
- consent of the conflicting parties
- prerequisite of a ceasefire agreement
- contribution of contingents on a voluntary basis.[7]
These traits determine the size, composition, and limits of the mission. For example because the military personnel are lightly armed and require the consent of the parties involved, they are not capable of performing any peacemaking duties. At the same time, because peacekeeping forces are composed of military personnel, they are ill equipped to perform any state-building functions except in a support role. Given these constraints PKOs usually perform the following missions:
Within this framework solutions to violent intractable conflicts can be mediated and ameliorated. But we can also use the same guidelines to analyze whether PKOs are effective solutions for intractable conflicts. Opinions differ on this last point. Some feel that, though the solutions offered by PKOs may not be complete, in many situations they are the best that can be hoped for. One author argues, however, that according to the general framework of criteria for PKOs most have been failures.[8]
Cyprus is a good example of how difficult it is to judge a peacekeeping mission. Civil war broke out in the newly formed Republic of Cyprus in December of 1963.[9] By March of 1964 a U.N. Peacekeeping Force was deployed and became operational. Except for a coup d'etat in 1974, the peacekeeping force in Cyprus has been mostly successful in keeping the peace, but largely unsuccessful in reconciling the combatants. The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) remains today.[10] This mixed bag of success and failure illustrates nicely the potential advantages and the potential problems inherent in most peacekeeping missions: on the one hand UNFICYP has been instrumental in maintaining an overall level of peace between the two sides; on the other hand, it has not reduced the conflict to the point that either side can feel secure were UNFICYP to leave.
We can see in the Cyprus example how a peacekeeping force organized around the principles of neutrality, light armaments, and mutual consent was able to verify the terms of the peace agreement and demobilize the combatants to a certain extent, but have largely failed in any goals of reintegration and state-building. The successes and failures of this mission provide some insight in the overall ability of PKOs in any operation.
The success of peacekeeping operations depends on two key issues. First, the peace agreement and/or ceasefire that the PKO is based on must be tenable for both sides. If one or both sides want to continue the fighting, a PKO will be very unlikely to maintain the peace.[11] Second, success is contingent on clear strategies for implementing nation-building and institutional development; simply put, democratization. PKOs that don't set out basic goals for building and maintaining trustworthy social institutions are not likely to experience high levels of success. Only in this context can peacekeeping forces prove to be effective solutions to intractable conflicts.
Fostering Peace
William Ury explains that mediation is only one 'tool' in a peacebuilder's toolbox. There are many more that are needed as well.
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While the United Nations is not the only intergovernmental organization (IGO) to undertake peacekeeping missions, it is the most experienced. Since its ratification in 1945, the United Nations has deployed 55 PKOs. Remarkably, 42 of these have occurred since the end of the Cold War.[12] Depending on one's criteria for the success of a PKO, the number of U.N. missions that have been successful ranges from none to almost all of them. However, a standard evaluation of success is based not on a mission's peacekeeping ability alone, but also its peacebuilding ability. For example, Gregory Downs and Stephen Stedman use two criteria for evaluating a PKO, one of which has an implicit peacebuilding element to it:
- "whether large-scale violence is brought to an end while the implementers are present."
- "whether the war is terminated on a self-enforcing basis so that implementers can go home without fear of the war rekindling."[13]
Peace according to these criteria is the short-term absence of violence with the promise that this absence of violence might be lasting. Most research in the field agrees that peacekeeping forces are quite effective at accomplishing the first criteria, but have more trouble with the second. Thus we can say that the introduction of a PKO into a conflict is very effective at ending violence and establishing short-term peace, but less successful at maintaining that peace after they have left.
In the context of intractable conflict this may not be as damning as it seems: it is a question of degrees. After all, a stagnant partial peace is preferable to continued violence. Though building a stable and peaceful state may be preferable to maintaining peace through the continued presence of peacekeeping forces, the maintenance of peace in any form is preferable to continued violence. In these limited circumstances PKOs can offer a valuable solution to violent intractable conflicts.
The Will for Peace
However, no PKO would have any chance at success without a willingness by all parties to participate. Downs and Stedman focus this willingness on the political and economic will of outside powers to get involved in the peacemaking process.[14] That is, for any international or regional power to risk casualties, commit resources or use leverage, they must see their own interests as being affected by the continuation of the conflict. For Fen Hampson, willingness, or ripeness as he calls it, refers to the readiness of combatant parties to consider proposals that might alter the status quo.[15] Both definitions are valuable and lead us to conclude that, to foster peace, combatants must be willing to consider peace as an option, and external powers to consider peace as valuable and worthwhile. However, the latter consideration is most important for both peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Dennis Jett points out that PKOs often fail before they get started because of a failure of will on the part of the world powers.[16]
This was the case with Rwanda. A lightly armed U.N. Peacekeeping Mission led by Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire was in Rwanda before the genocide began. Dallaire's forces were 3,000 men strong. He requested another 2,000 men to use in a peacekeeping role. His request was turned down and subsequently 800,000 Rwandans (by some accounts) were killed in 100 days, mostly by machete. Here is a clear case where the lack of willingness on the part of the United Nations and its member states to commit to a peacekeeping effort led not only to massive failures in their peacekeeping mission, but allowed a genocide to happen while there was still time to prevent it. As Dallaire put it, "The explosion of genocide could have been prevented if the political will had been there and if we had been better skilled ... it could have been prevented."[17]
There is also evidence that if the political will is present among the major powers then the warring parties can be forced to the bargaining table. Jill Freeman cites previous research showing that international pressure is the key determinant in the success of security guarantees which are closely related to PKOs.[18] Looking back on Cyprus, we may be able to distinguish between the political will needed to initiate the peace agreement and the political will necessary to maintain that peace.[19] In this context we can understand the role of the international community in creating peace and the role of the conflicting parties in legitimizing the peacebuilding process.
At this point we have a good understanding of the definition of peacekeeping forces, their capabilities, the criteria for judging success, and the roles of the actors involved in ensuring that success. We have yet to answer the nagging question of how successful the various PKOs have been.
Peacekeeping?
As discussed, peacekeeping, since its beginnings over 50 years ago, has not been an overwhelming success. The ideal peacekeeping mission would have a clear entry plan, establish a lasting peace, and leave behind a set of stable institutions for ensuring that peace, all in the timeframe of two to three years. As it stands, of the 55 U.N. PKOs, 15 are ongoing. Of those, at least 10 have been going on for more than 10 years and five of these have been going on for more than 20 years.[20] Five of the 15 are too recent to be evaluated. Thus 10 of the 15 ongoing PKOs could be automatically labeled failures according to Downs and Stedman's criteria. Of the remaining 40 cases, Downs and Stedman only analyze 16, but of these only six qualify as unmitigated successes. PKOs do not have a promising track record. What can be done to improve the probability of success in peacekeeping missions?
Room for Improvement
We can agree that the goal of PKOs is admirable. We can also agree that even partial successes in intractable conflicts are desirable. However, it is not clear that PKOs have the ability to succeed in most conflicts. The goal of any PKO should not be to establish a marginally stable peace that lasts a few years, as is the case with Liberia or Zimbabwe, but to establish a lasting peace in which liberal institutions can be built, gain legitimacy, and guarantee peace, as is happening in Mozambique. PKO mandates that provide only for the interposition of forces between temporarily peaceful combatants have generally not worked and are not likely to work. The only hope for success in peacekeeping operations requires sustained interest from the international community, along with detailed plans for state building after the core goals of disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and reconstruction. These ideals have been clearly set out in Boutros Boutros-Ghali's Agenda for Peace as a matter of policy, but have yet to be realized as a policy in practice.[21]
[1] United Nations, The United Nations Charter Preamble [document on-line], (accessed on February 31, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/index.html Internet.
[2] Ibid, 2(4), 2(7), VI, VII, VIII
[3] Alan James, "Peacekeeping and Ethnic Conflict: Theory and Evidence" in Peace in the Midst of Wars: Preventing and Managing Ethnic Conflicts, eds. Carment, D. and P. James (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1998), 165.
[4] Conflict Management Toolkit, Peacekeeping: Definitions [document on-line] (accessed on February 12, 2003).
[5] United Nations, Ibid.
[6] http://cmtoolkit.sais-jhu.edu/
[7] Portions of this module were written by The Conflict Management Program as SAIS - Johns Hopkins
[8] Roland Paris, "Peacebuilding and the Limits of International Peacebuilding," International Security 22, no. 2 (Fall 1997): 53.
[9] United Nations, "UNFICYP: United Nation Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus: Background," [document on-line] (accessed on February 12, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unficyp/background.html Internet.
[10] http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unficyp/background.html
[11] James Fearon, "Rationalist Explanations for War," International Organization 49, no. 3 (Summer 1995); Fen Hampson, Nurturing Peace (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996), 8; Hugh Miall and others, Contemporary Conflict Resolution: The Prevention, Management and Transformation of Deadly Conflicts (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999), 164-7.
[12] Evan N. Resnick, "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Ad Hoc Missions, Permanent Engagement (book review)," Journal of International Affairs 55, no. 2 (Spring 2002), 539(6).
[13] need footnote
[14] George Downs and Stephen J. Stedman, "Evaluating Issues in Peace Implementation," in Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements, eds. Stedman, S., D. Rothchild, and E. Cousens (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner Publishers, 2002), 43.
[15] Hampson, ibid.
[16] FOOTNOTE NEEDED
[17] Quoted from Ted Barris, "Romeo Dallaire: Peacekeeping in the New Millennium," [document on-line] (accessed on 17 February, 2003); available from http://www.thememoryproject.com/Vol3Dallaire.pdf, Internet
[18] This is another essay in this system: Jill Freeman, Security Guarantees, available at http://www2.beyondintractability.org/essay/security_guarantees/.
[18]%20Hampson
[19]%20United%20Nations," http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/timeline/pages/timeline.html, Internet.
[19] Hampson, ibid.
[20] United Nations, ?Operations Timeline,? [document on-line] (accessed on 17 February, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/timeline/pages/timeline.html, Internet.
[21] Boutros Boutros-Ghali, "An Agenda for Peace," [document on-line] (New York: United Nations, 1992, accessed on February 17, 2003); available from http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html, Internet.
Use the following to cite this article:
Conflict Management Program at SAIS, and Julian Ouellet. "Peacekeeping." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: September 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacekeeping/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Demurenko, Colonel Andrei and Dr. Alexander Nikitin. "Basic Terminology and Concepts in International Peacekeeping Operations: An Analytical Review." , 1997
Available at: http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/pkterms.htm.
This article presents a practical definition and analysis of peacekeeping terms and concepts. The military author brings direct personal experience to the subject, while the civilian author offers an academic perspective.
Ramsbotham, Oliver, Wibke Hansen and Tom Woodhouse. "Hawks and Doves: Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution." Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management.
Click here for more info.
The main theme of this paper is to indicate where knowledge developed in conflict resolution research can be of relevance for peacekeepers as they seek to fulfill their responsibilities to manage conflict. It further outlines how peacekeeping doctrine is being developed in response to recent critiques.
Multidisciplinary Peacekeeping: Lessons From Recent Experience. United Nations.
Available at: http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/peacekpg/lessons/lesson.htm.
The Lessons Learned Unit of the United Nations' Department of Peacekeeping Operations has undertaken studies of four multidisciplinary peacekeeping operations: the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM); the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR); the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH); and the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III). Based on these studies and others conducted by outside research institutions and foundations, it is hoped this report will assist in improving the planning, support, conduct and management of peacekeeping operations.
Peacekeeping. Johns Hopkins University: Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Available at: Click here for more info.
This project managed by the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins lays out an extended framework for understanding the phases of peacekeeping operations. The site is set out such that a basic understanding of peacekeeping operations can be gained quickly. It is an excellent source for further resources as well.
United States Institute of Peace. Peacekeeping in Africa.
Available at: http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/sr66.html.
This two-part report (the second part can be accessed through this page as well), examines the findings of the Brahimi Report. The Brahimi Report was the first systematic and comprehensive effort to identify and address the technical problems with UN peacekeeping missions and within the United Nations' Department of Peacekeeping Operations. This report discusses experts' perpectives on the Brahimi Report and its implications for peacekeeping operations in Africa.
Malan, Mark. "Peacekeeping in the New Millennium: Towards 'Fourth Generation' Peace Operations?." African Security Review, Vol. 7, No. 3 , 1998
Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/7No3/Malan.html.
The aim of this article is to provide a simple and broad outline of recent trends in international peace operations. In particular, attention is focused on the expansion and subsequent contraction of UN missions, the humanitarian imperative, and the trend towards specialization and delegation - with special reference to the emergent place and role of civilian police in modern peace operations.
Eide, Espen Barth. "Peacekeeping Past and Present." ,
Available at: http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2001/0102-01.htm.
This moderately recent article assesses the evolution of peacekeeping missions. In particular this article is written from a Western European point of view and focuses on the role of NATO in peacekeeping operations. It useful in this way to distinguish between UN peacekeeping missions and missions undertaken by regional organizations such as NATO, the OAU, or the OAS.
Thornberry, Cedric. "Peacekeeping, Peacemaking and Human Rights." , February 20, 1995
Available at: http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/thc01/.
This is a transcript of a lecture given about peacekeeping, peacemaking and human rights, and the connections which exist, or which should exist, amongst these three. There is an emphasis on the role of the UN.
Shelton, Garth. "Preventive Diplomacy and Peacekeeping: Keys for Success." African Security Review, Vol. 6, No. 5 , 1997
Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/6No5/Shelton.html.
This article argues that there are "four important issues which have not received adequate attention by peace operations studies and which are of critical importance to any government contemplating involvement in preventive diplomacy or peacekeeping. These issues are: early warning and the early response to a crisis; adequate financial support for peacekeeping; an accurate assessment of casualty tolerance in peacekeeping operations; and
sufficient information for successful peacekeeping." -From Article
Reddy, Rita. "Where There Is No Peace: The Efficiency and Ethos of the UN Peacekeeping Forces." Forced Migration Review ,
Available at: http://www.fmreview.org/rpn235.htm.
This article discusses the role and function of UN military forces. It seems probable that UN military forces will be increasingly called upon to intervene in conflict zones in order to protect civilian populations. Their role and function need to be clarified and, for the sake of greater efficiency, it may be necessary to separate certain functions - 'protection' from 'mediation and enforcement' - to form two distinct UN forces.
Offline (Print) Sources
Downs, George W. and Stephen John Stedman. "Evaluating Issues in Peace Implementation." In Ending Civil Wars: The Implementation of Peace Agreements. Edited by Cousens, Elizabeth M., Donald S. Rothchild and Stephen John Stedman, eds. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reiner Publishers, January 1, 2002.
This introductory chapter to the book, Ending Civil Wars, establishes some of the key variables that affect the success of peace agreements. Downs and Stedman argue push for a more limited role for the Security Council and the UN. The core of their argument revolves around the high level of complexity of each case and the importance of major or regional powers in ensuring the viability of the peace agreements.
Aall, Pamela, Lt. Col. Daniel Miltenberger and Thomas G. Weiss. Guide to IGOs, NGOs, and the Military in Peace and Relief Operations. Herndon, VA: USIP Press, November 1, 2000.
This book explains the roles, organizational cultures, and structures of inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and militaries. It argues that the increased understanding of the three basic types of international peace building actors offered in the book will assist people in one sort of organization to understand and work with people in other sorts of organizations during peace operations. Click here for more info.
Diehl, Paul F., Daniel Druckman and James Wall. "International Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution: a Taxonomic Analysis with Implications." Journal of conflict resolution 42:1, 1998.
This paper represents a systematic attempt to classify peacekeeping missions and their function. The authors develop a theoretical framework grounded in scholarly literature on conflict management and conflict resolution. The framework allows them to scale different peacekeeping functions along the dimensions of primary vs. third-party roles, and integrative vs. distributive processes.
Regan, Patrick and Rodwan Abouharb. "Interventions and civil conflicts: tools of conflict management or simply another participant?." World Affairs 165:1, 2002.
The authors argue that peacekeeping operations in some circumstances actually extend the duration of the conflict. Regan and Abouharb argue that third parties can help as much as they hurt if the aid is not worked out.
Ajello, Adlo. "Mozambique: Implementation of the 1992 Peace Agreement." In Herding Cats: Multiparty Mediation in a Complex World. Edited by Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, eds. Herndon, VA: USIP Press, 1999.
This chapter, written by the UN special representative to Mozambique, describes the effort to implement the 1992 peace accord.
James, Alan. "Peacekeeping and Ethnic Conflict: Theory and Evidence." In Peace in the Midst of Wars: Preventing and Managing Ethnic Conflicts. Edited by Carment, David and Patrick James, eds. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, January 1, 1998.
James takes a close look at meaning within the discourse of peacekeeping. In this context he concludes that the key issues in ethnic conflict revolve around security threats and sovereign freedom. Peacekeeping is of limited use in and of itself in this regards because it is only able to provide aid in weak states that have little say over their sovereign freedom and thus can only help a limited set of ethnic conflicts.
Peacekeeping and Peace Enforcement in Africa: Methods of Conflict Prevention. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute Press, July 1, 2000.
This book focuses on preventing civil war and violent internal conflicts in Africa by using new methods of peace enforcement, including militant crisis intervention and peacekeeping operations.
Roberts, Adam. "The Crisis in UN Peacekeeping." In Managing Global Chaos: Sources or and Responses to International Conflict. Edited by Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, eds. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1996.
"This article addresses four main questions: 1) What were the essential features of UN peacekeeping up to 1987? 2) How has the character of UN peacekeeping changed since 1988, and what are the consequences of hte changes? 3: In what kinds of crises can UN peacekeeping usefully become involved, and in what kinds is it inappropriate? 4) What are the issues that the UN and its member-states need to address?"
Ratner, Steve R. The New UN Peacekeeping: Building Peace in Lands of Conflict after the Cold War. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
This work attempts to understand the United Nations' new approach to peacekeeping as it has come to be in the post-Cold War era, namely intervention into war-torn, yet sovereign states. The work views peacekeeping as an instrument of international organization and law. The in-depth analysis compares and contrasts the new approach with the old, outlining the reinvented purposes of peacekeeping. The work includes chapters on specific UN peacekeeping missions, Cambodia in particular.
Sereseres, Caesar. "The Regional Peacekeeping Role of the Organization of American States: Nicaragua, 1990-1993." In Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict. Edited by Crocker, Chester A., Fen Osler Hampson and Pamela Aall, eds. Washington, D.C.: USIP Press, 1996.
This chapter chronicles the peacekeeping role of the Organization of American States in Nicaragua. The experience highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of regional organizations in dealing with these types of issues.
Reifschneider, Jennifer, Paul R. Hensel and Paul F. Diehl. "United Nations Intervention and Recurring Conflict." International Organization 50:4, 1996.
This article examines the dramatic post-Cold War increase in the number and forms of United Nations intervention into ongoing conflicts. The research presented in this paper attempts to analyze the longer-term impacts of UN intervention on the relationships between the antagonists and the potential for renewed violence in the future.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Boutros-Ghali, Boutros. An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping. United Nations.
Available at: http://www.un.org/Docs/SG/agpeace.html.
Written in the years immediately following the end of the Cold War this document became the guiding principle of Post-Cold War Peacekeeping Operations. Most operations have failed on these goals, but they remain the best that the United Nations can hope for, nonetheless.
Havermans, Jos. "Central African Republic: Ethnic Strife in a Democratic Setting." , 2000
Available at: Click here for more info.
This is an article about the struggle of the Central African Republic and its ethnic strife. The paper details efforts at peacemaking, which have primarily been led by the United Nations delegates and peacekeeping troops.
Malan, Mark and Fiona McFarlane. "Crisis and Response in the Central African Republic: A New Trend in African Peacekeeping?." African Security Review, Vol. 7, No. 2 , 1998
Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/7No2/McFarlaneAndMalan.html.
"The aim of this article is to outline the causes and course of the conflict in Central African Republic (CAR), to examine the nature of the rather unusual international response, and to comment on the implications of the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Bangui Accords (MISAB) experience." -From Article
FAS: Operation Deliberate Force. Federation of American Scientists.
Available at: http://www.au.af.mil/au/aul/bibs/opdel/opde.htm.
This website provides information and links on the active military intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina by the United States and the rest of NATO. Operation Deliberate Force was the name of the 2 week attack of Serbian military and para-military positions in 1995.
Malan, Mark. "Leaner and Meaner? The Future of Peacekeeping in Africa." African Security Review, Vol. 8, No. 4 , 1999
Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/8No4/Malan.html.
"This article emphasizes five major trends that, if allowed to continue, will characterize the future of "peacekeeping" in Africa. These are: a withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from the African continent; an increase in robust, but ineffective multilateral military interventions by willing African coalitions, with the blessing of the UN Security Council; the advent of bilateral military interventions; the continuation of a multiplicity of humanitarian assistance activities that are divorced from any overarching political scheme for conflict transformation; and the propagation of African peacekeeping capacity-building initiatives." -From Article
"NATO Website: Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina." ,
Available at: http://www.nato.int/sfor/.
One of the most recent peacekeeping missions involving active use of military force was in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This website provides much of the information about the SFOR and IFOR missions that bracketed the active use of military force.
Stambaugh, Colonel Jeffrey E. "Peacekeeping Exit Strategy: A Renaissance for the Deadline?." , May 21, 2001
Available at: http://www.stormingmedia.us/31/3177/A317704.html.
This scholarly work examines the role of deadlines in peacekeeping, considering whether they offer an acceptable exit strategy for nations wanting to end peacekeeping operations. The author looks at relevant theory, historical practice, and the application of deadlines in peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.
Malan, Mark. "Peacekeeping in Africa - Trends and Responses." , June 1998
Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/PAPERS/31/Paper31.html.
"The purpose of this paper is to take stock of current trends in international peacekeeping vis-a-vis the perceived problem of peacekeeping in Africa, and to briefly outline progress and prospects towards the resolution of this problem." -From Article
Lake, Anthony. "Peacekeeping: Defining Success." Peace Colloquy , 2002
Available at: http://www.nd.edu/~krocinst/colloquy/issue1/feature_lake.shtml.
The author argues that the typical goal of peacekeeping missions, to reunify the area in dispute, is misguided in many situations. He focuses on Kosovo, in which reunification is doubtful, and rife with consequences. He discusses why so many nations are opposed to separation, and compares Kosovo to U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Malan, Mark. "Physical Protection in Practice: International and Regional Peacekeeping in Africa." African Security Review, Vol. 9, No 1 , 2000
Available at: Click here for more info.
This article presents a brief snapshot of the record of international and regional efforts by peacekeepers to protect civilians in armed conflicts in Angola, Somalia, Rwanda, Za?re and Liberia. This inevitably begs the question whether or not physical protection is indeed possible within the context of contemporary thinking on peace operations. A brief examination of extant peace support doctrine and practice reveals the need to build on African experiences in articulating a conceptual framework for intervention in African conflicts. A framework that offers the protection of civilian populations rather than the existing paradigm of instrumentalism.
Barris, Ted. "Romeo Dallaire: Peacekeeping in the New Millennium." , 1900
Available at: http://www.thememoryproject.com/Vol3Dallaire.pdf.
This is a brief biography of Romeo Dallaire, in particular his experiences as commander of peacekeeping forces in Rwanda prior to the outbreak of genocidal violence in 1993-94.
Sweetman, Derek. "The Development of the International Peacekeeping Regime and the Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia." , March 1998
Available at: http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/1_1swe.htm.
This article discusses the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and United Nations peacekeeping efforts in the region.
The United Nations Peacekeeping Website. United Nations.
Available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/home.shtml.
This site is the UN portal for all of their peacekeeping operations. It includes links to their basic mission objectives as well as overviews of every mission undertaken since the formation of the UN.
Offline (Print) Sources
Howe, Herbert. "Lessons of Liberia: ECOMOG and Regional Peacekeeping." International Security 21:3, 1996.
This article details the turbulent attempt by Economic Community of West African States Cease-fire Monitoring Group) ECOMOG to establish a ceasefire in Liberia after warring factions signed an agreement in August 1995. The piece provides background on the roots of the Liberian conflict and proceeds to examine the possible effectiveness of subregional military groupings by analyzing the work of ECOMOG in the Liberian conflict of 1989-1996.
Boulden, Jane. Peace Enforcement: The United Nations Experience in Congo, Somalia, and Bosnia. London: Praeger, 2001.
"After a brief overview of the relevant aspects of the UN charter and the organization's history with peacekeeping and peace enforcement, Boulden provides three case studies: the Congo in the early 1960s, and Somalia and Bosnia in the 1990s. Her descriptions of these cases give a very good account of the problems and dilemmas of operations which by definition have neither full consent of the parties to the conflict nor sufficient political backing or resources to use force effectively. More than traditional peacekeeping operations, these missions are bound to generate enemies, but they are ill-equipped to defend themselves or to carry out their mandates when these enemies make life difficult. It should come as no surprise that the Congo, Somalia, and Bosnia were, if not outright failures, highly problematic missions." --Review, Page Fortna, Political Science Quarterly, v117 no. 1 p. 163
Woodhouse, Tom, Robert Bruce and Malcolm Dando, eds. Peacekeeping and Peacemaking: Towards Effective Intervention in Post-Cold War Conflicts. New York: St. Martin's Press, Inc., March 1998.
This edited volume presents a series of essays that criticallyt examine the United Nations' role in international peacekeeping missions in the post-Cold War era. The first section offers background on the UN's peacekeeping and peacemaking activities. Section two presents case studies on UN peacekaaping missions including the Middle East, Cambodia, and Somalia. The last section includes essays that discuss Australian perspectives on intervention, as the book was put together from contributions to a 1995 conference held in Australia.
Allan, James H. Peacekeeping: Outspoken Observations by a Field Officer. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.
This book relates the experience of James Allan, who retired from the Canadian Forces after 37 years of service. In the work, he reflects on his experiences during four peacekeeping deployments between 1967 and 1990, using them as the basis of drastic recommendations for reform.
Adeleke, Ademola. "The Politics and Diplomacy of Peacekeeping in West Africa: The ECOWAS Operation in Liberia." Journal of Modern African Studies 33:4, December 1995.
This article examines the ways in which member states of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) dealt with the organization's shift from an economic development organization to one that also works to resolve conflict and establish peace in West African hot spots. The piece concentrates on the situation in Liberia in the early 1990s, analyzing how the dynamics of intra-regional politics and diplomacy, as well as ethnicity, affected the peace process in that nation. The concluding section assesses the potential for employing the ECOWAS operation as a model for conflict resolution in Africa.
Hampson, Fen Osler. "What Makes a Peace Settlement Stick? and a Case Study of Cyprus." In Nurturing Peace: Why Peace Settlements Succeed or Fail. Herndon, VA: USIP Press, August 1996. Pages: 3-51.
Hampson's introduces several criteria for sustainable peace agreements. Important to peacekeeping are the the role of third parties and the substantive provisions of the peace agreement itself. Hampson also illustrates the importance of these issues in a case study of Cyprus later in the selection.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Liberia. NPR. July 22, 2003.
Available at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1344875.
West African military chiefs consider the deployment of an African peacekeeping force. The Bush administration insists that African nations lead the way in trying to help end the civil war in Liberia.
Offline (Print) Sources
Blue Helmets: The Story of United Nations Peacekeeping. Directed and/or Produced by: Sucher, Joel and Steven Fischler. First Run Icarus Films. 1990.
This film examines the history of United Nations peacekeeping operations starting with its first mission in the Middle East.
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