History of United Nations Peacekeeping
Encyclopedia
The History of United Nations Peacekeeping began in 1948. Its first mission was to the Middle East
to observe and maintain the ceasefire
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. Since then, United Nations
peacekeepers have taken part in a total of 63 missions across the globe, 17 of which continue today. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1988.
Though the term "peacekeeping
" is not found in the United Nations Charter
, the authorization is generally considered to lie in (or between) Chapter 6
and Chapter 7
. Chapter 6 describes the Security Council's power to investigate and mediate disputes, while Chapter 7 discusses the power to authorize economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions, as well as the use of military force, to resolve disputes. The founders of the UN envisioned that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible; however, the outbreak of the Cold War
made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult due to the division of the world into hostile camps. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace, and the agency's peacekeeping dramatically increased, authorizing more missions between 1991 and 1994 than in the previous 45 years combined.
Before any official peacekeeping mission, the United Nations played an important role in the conflict concerning Trieste
after World War II. From 1947 to 1954, Trieste was declared an independent city state under the protection of the United Nations as the Free Territory of Trieste. The territory was divided into two zones, which later formed the basis for the division of the territory between Italy
and Yugoslavia
. The UN also authorized 3 nations to station troops in the Free Territory, the US (Trieste United States Troops
) and the UK (British Element Trieste Force) in the northern zone and Yugoslavia in the southern zone.
The first UN peacekeeping mission was a team of observers deployed to the Middle East in 1948, during the Arab-Israeli War. The mission was officially authorized on May 29, 1948. This date is used as a memorial day to all the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives known as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
. The group, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), as it was named, continues to monitor the situation and has provided observers for a number of conflicts in the region since then. In 1949, observers were deployed to the border of India and Pakistan in a similar mission after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
(UNMOGIP). They also continue to monitor the border. In 1950, the UN faced one of its greatest early challenges when North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the Korean War
. The Soviet Union was, at the time, boycotting the UN in protest over the Chinese seat
being occupied by the Republic of China
rather than the People's Republic of China
. It was therefore unable to veto the authorization of member states to assist in the defense of South Korea. The United Nations forces pushed the North Koreans out of the South and made it to the Chinese border before the Chinese People's Volunteer Army intervened and pushed the UN back to the 38th parallel. Although a cease-fire was declared in 1953, UN forces remained along the demilitarized zone until 1967, when American and South Korean forces took over.
In 1956, the UN responded to the Suez Crisis
with the United Nations Emergency Force
to supervise the withdrawal of invading forces. United Nations Emergency Force as a peacekeeping force was initially suggested as a concept by Canadian
diplomat and future Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson as a means of resolving conflicts between states. He suggested deploying unarmed or lightly armed military personnel from a number of countries, under UN command, to areas where warring parties were in need of a neutral party to observe the peace process. Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
in 1957 for his work in establishing UN peacekeeping operations. UNEF was the first official armed peacekeeping operation modeled on Pearson's ideas. Since 1956, most UN peacekeeping forces, including those called "observer" missions, have been armed.
, the tensions on the UN Security Council made it difficult to implement peacekeeping measures in countries and regions seen to relate to the spread or containment of leftist and revolutionary movements. While some conflicts were separate enough from the Cold War to achieve consensus support for peacekeeping missions, most were too deeply enmeshed in the global struggle.
on the island and prevent wider conflict between NATO members Turkey
and Greece
. A second observer force, UNIPOM, was also dispatched, in 1965 to the areas of the India-Pakistan border that were not being monitored by the earlier mission, UNMOGIP, after a ceasefire in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
. Neither of these disputes were seen to have Cold War or ideological implications.
There was one exception to the rule. In the Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic
(DOMREP), 1965–1966, the UN authorized an observer mission in a country where ideological factions were facing off. However, the mission was only initiated after the US intervened unilaterally in a civil war between leftist and conservative factions. The US had consolidated its hold and invited a force of the Organization of American States
(dominated by US troops) to keep the peace. The mission was approved mainly because the Americans presented it as fait accompli and because the UN mission was not a full peacekeeping force. It included only two observers at any time and left the peacekeeping to another international organization. It was the first time the UN operated in this manner with a regional bloc.
from Belgian control. It stayed on until 1964 to help maintain stability and prevent the breakup of the country during the Congo Crisis
. In West New Guinea from 1962 to 1963, UNSF maintained law and order while the territory was transferred from Dutch colonial control to Indonesia
.
. A few years later, the Yemen Observer Mission (UNYOM), authorized in 1963, attempted to end civil war in Yemen
with sides supported by regional rivals Egypt
and Saudi Arabia
. Throughout the 1970s, the UN also authorized several peacekeeping missions to attempt to calm the Arab-Israeli Conflict, in Suez (UNEF II) in 1973 and in the Golan Heights (UNDOF) in 1974 concluding the Yom Kippur War
, and Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1978 following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict. In the 1980s only one new mission was authorized in the region, UNIIMOG, to supervise the withdrawal of troops to the internationally recognized border between Iraq
and Iran
after almost eight years of war
between those two countries.
With the decline of the Soviet Union and the advent of perestroika
, the Soviet Union drastically decreased its military and economic support for a number of "proxy" civil wars across the globe. It also withdrew its support from satellite states and one UN peacekeeping mission, UNGOMAP, was designed to oversee the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan as the USSR began to refocus domestically. In 1991, the USSR dissolved into 15 independent states. Conflicts broke out in two former Soviet Republics, the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict in Georgia
and a civil war in Tajikistan
, which were eventually policed by UN peacekeeping forces, UNOMIG and UNMOT respectively.
With the end of the Cold War, a number of nations called for the UN to become an organization of world peace and do more to encourage the end to conflicts across the globe. The end of political gridlock in the Security Council helped the number of peacekeeping missions increased substantially. In a new spirit of cooperation, the Security Council established larger and more complex UN peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, peacekeeping came to involve more and more non-military elements that ensured the proper operation of civic functions, such as elections. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
was created in 1992 to support the increased demand for such missions.
A number of missions were designed to end civil wars in which competing sides had been sponsored by Cold War players. In Angola
(UNAVEM I, II and III) aimed to end fighting between rebel, anti-Communist UNITA
and the ruling, Communist MPLA. ONUMOZ was similarly designed to oversee the end of the conflict between the anti-Communist RENAMO and the leftist government in Mozambique
, ending the Mozambican Civil War
. In Cambodia
UNAMIC, and then UNTAC for the first time took over control of the entire state on behalf of the UN and organized and ran an election before turning control over to the elected government. In Central America
, ONUCA oversaw the restriction of cross-border aid by any one country to insurgencies in any other. Five nations were involved: El Salvador
, Guatemala
, Costa Rica
, Nicaragua
, and Honduras
. The guerrilla movements in all five countries, variously communist and anti-communist, gave way to UN-brokered peace agreements in the 1990s. In El Salvador, a further internal UN peacekeeping force, (ONUSAL), was authorized to verify the ceasefire between the socialist FMLN and the government. Similarly, in Guatemala, MINUGUA
was authorized in 1996 to verify the ceasefire there between leftist URNG and the conservative government.
In 1991, the political situation created by the collapse of the USSR allowed the first explicitly-authorized operation of collective self-defense since the Korean War: expelling Iraq
from Kuwait
in the Gulf War
. Following the cessation of hostilities, the UN authorized UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) to monitor the DMZ between the two countries. Two other inter-state conflicts have been the cause for UN peacekeeping since. In 1994, the UN Aouzou Strip Observer Group (UNASOG) oversaw the withdrawal of Libya
from a strip of contested territory in accordance with the decision of the International Court of Justice
. In 2000, UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was established to monitor the cessation of hostilities after the Eritrean-Ethiopian War
.
and the breakup of Yugoslavia both were occasions of widespread atrocities and ethnic violence. Eight UN peacekeeping missions have been sent to the former Yugoslavia, UNPROFOR, UNCRO, UNPREDEP
, UNMIBH, UNTAES, UNMOP, UNPSG, and UNMIK as well as two to Rwanda, UNAMIR and UNOMUR.
Despite the cessation of international, Cold-War inspired aid, civil wars continued in many regions and the UN attempted to bring peace. Several conflicts were the cause of multiple peace-keeping missions.
The collapse of Somalia
into the Somali Civil War
in 1991 saw UNOSOM I
, UNITAF
, and UNOSOM II
fail to bring peace and stability, though they did mitigate the effects of the famine.
The First Liberian Civil War resulted in the authorization of UNOMIL in September 1993 to assist and supervise the troops of ECOWAS, which had intervened militarily at the request of the Liberian government, and oversee the maintenance of the peace agreement in the nation. However, two rebel groups instigated the Second Liberian Civil War
in 2003, and UNMIL was dispatched to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continues to assist in national security reform.
A coup in Haiti
in 1991, followed by internal violence, was the impetus for the UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). In 1996 and 1997 three missions, UNSMIH, UNTMIH, and MIPONUH, were organized with the goal of reforming, training, and assisting the police through a period of political turmoil. A rebellion in 2004 saw the ouster of the President and the UN-authorized MINUSTAH to stabilize the country.
In Sudan
, the UN initially sponsored UNMIS to enforce a ceasefire between the SPLA and the Sudanese government. Since then, rebel groups in Darfur
have clashed with government-sponsored forces
, resulting in UNAMID, the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur. Violence in Darfur, spilled over the border into Chad and the Central African Republic. In 2007, MINURCAT was deployed to minimize violence to civilians and prevent interference of aid distribution related to violence in Darfur.
The UN has also organized single peacekeeping missions aimed at ending civil wars in a number of coutnries. In Central African Republic
(MINURCA), 1998, was created to oversee the disarmament of several mutinous groups of former CAR military personnel and militias as well as to assist with the training of a new national police and the running of elections. The mission was extended after successful elections to help ensure further stability. In Sierra Leone
, UNOMSIL/UNAMSIL) in 1999, followed the ECOMOG-led restoration of the government after a coup
. In 1999, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
MONUC was designed to monitor the ceasefire after the Second Congo War
--it continues to operate due to continuing violence in parts of the DRC. In Cote d'Ivoire
, UNOCI was dispatched to enforce a 2004 peace agreement ending the Ivorian Civil War, though the country remains divided. Following ceasefire agreements ending the Burundi Civil War
, was authorized in 2004 to oversee the implementation of the Arusha Peace Accords.
oversaw the withdrawal of South Africa
and the election of a new government. In 1991, a ceasefire and referendum were planned by Morocco
regarding the region of Western Sahara
. Disagreements prevented the referendum, but the ceasefire continues to be monitored by MINURSO. In East Timor
, in 1999, a referendum voted for independence from Indonesia
. Violence by anti-independence forces followed and UNTAET was set up to establish control and administer the territory until independence, after which an assistance mission was established, UNMISET. Violence during 2006 led to the establishment of UNMIT, which continues to monitor the situation.
documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War
, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism — mostly spearheaded by the UN — has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.
The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In some cases, the Security Council has failed to pass resolutions or the member states
have been reluctant to fully enforce them in the face of deteriorating conditions. Disagreements in the Security Council are seen as having failed to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
. UN and international inaction has also been cited for failing to intervene and provide sufficient humanitarian aid during the Second Congo War
, the failure of UN peacekeepers to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre
, failure to provide effective humanitarian aid in Somalia
, failing to implement provisions of Security Council resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
, and continuing failure to prevent genocide or provide assistance in Darfur
.
One suggestion to address the problem of delays such as the one in Rwanda, is a rapid reaction force: a standing group, administered by the UN and deployed by the Security Council that receives its troops and support from current Security Council members and is ready for quick deployment in the event of future genocides.
UN peacekeepers have also been accused of sexual abuse including child rape, gang rape, and soliciting prostitutes during peacekeeping missions in the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan, Burundi, and Côte d'Ivoire.
In response to criticism, including reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, the UN has taken steps toward reforming its operations. The Brahimi Report
was the first of many steps to recap former peacekeeping missions, isolate flaws, and take steps to patch these mistakes to ensure the efficiency of future peacekeeping missions. The UN has vowed to continue to put these practices into effect when performing peacekeeping operations in the future. The technocratic aspects of the reform process have been continued and revitalised by the DPKO in its 'Peace Operations 2010' reform agenda. The 2008 capstone doctrine entitled "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines" incorporates and builds on the Brahimi analysis.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
to observe and maintain the ceasefire
Ceasefire
A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be declared as part of a formal treaty, but they have also been called as part of an informal understanding between opposing forces...
during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. Since then, United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
peacekeepers have taken part in a total of 63 missions across the globe, 17 of which continue today. The peacekeeping force as a whole received the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1988.
Though the term "peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
" is not found in the United Nations Charter
United Nations Charter
The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the international organization called the United Nations. It was signed at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center in San Francisco, United States, on 26 June 1945, by 50 of the 51 original member countries...
, the authorization is generally considered to lie in (or between) Chapter 6
Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter deals with peaceful settlement of disputes. It requires countries with disputes that could lead to war to first of all try to seek solutions through peaceful methods such as negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement,...
and Chapter 7
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military and nonmilitary action to "restore international peace...
. Chapter 6 describes the Security Council's power to investigate and mediate disputes, while Chapter 7 discusses the power to authorize economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions, as well as the use of military force, to resolve disputes. The founders of the UN envisioned that the organization would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible; however, the outbreak of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
made peacekeeping agreements extremely difficult due to the division of the world into hostile camps. Following the end of the Cold War, there were renewed calls for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace, and the agency's peacekeeping dramatically increased, authorizing more missions between 1991 and 1994 than in the previous 45 years combined.
Early years
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
after World War II. From 1947 to 1954, Trieste was declared an independent city state under the protection of the United Nations as the Free Territory of Trieste. The territory was divided into two zones, which later formed the basis for the division of the territory between Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. The UN also authorized 3 nations to station troops in the Free Territory, the US (Trieste United States Troops
Trieste United States Troops
-Establishment of Trieste United States Troops :The Army command Trieste United States Troops was established 1 May 1947 in accord with a protocol to the Italian peace treaty which created the Free Territory of Trieste....
) and the UK (British Element Trieste Force) in the northern zone and Yugoslavia in the southern zone.
The first UN peacekeeping mission was a team of observers deployed to the Middle East in 1948, during the Arab-Israeli War. The mission was officially authorized on May 29, 1948. This date is used as a memorial day to all the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives known as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
The "International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers", May 29, is "a day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who...
. The group, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), as it was named, continues to monitor the situation and has provided observers for a number of conflicts in the region since then. In 1949, observers were deployed to the border of India and Pakistan in a similar mission after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
The India-Pakistan War of 1947-48, sometimes known as the First Kashmir War, was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four wars fought between the two newly independent nations...
(UNMOGIP). They also continue to monitor the border. In 1950, the UN faced one of its greatest early challenges when North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. The Soviet Union was, at the time, boycotting the UN in protest over the Chinese seat
China and the United Nations
China's seat in the United Nations and membership of the United Nations Security Council was originally occupied by the Republic of China since October 24, 1945. During the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China repelled the government of the ROC from Mainland China to the island of...
being occupied by the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
rather than the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It was therefore unable to veto the authorization of member states to assist in the defense of South Korea. The United Nations forces pushed the North Koreans out of the South and made it to the Chinese border before the Chinese People's Volunteer Army intervened and pushed the UN back to the 38th parallel. Although a cease-fire was declared in 1953, UN forces remained along the demilitarized zone until 1967, when American and South Korean forces took over.
In 1956, the UN responded to the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
with the United Nations Emergency Force
United Nations Emergency Force
The first United Nations Emergency Force was established by United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the 1956 Suez Crisis with resolution 1001 on November 7, 1956. The force was developed in large measure as a result of efforts by UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and a proposal...
to supervise the withdrawal of invading forces. United Nations Emergency Force as a peacekeeping force was initially suggested as a concept by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
diplomat and future Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson as a means of resolving conflicts between states. He suggested deploying unarmed or lightly armed military personnel from a number of countries, under UN command, to areas where warring parties were in need of a neutral party to observe the peace process. Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
in 1957 for his work in establishing UN peacekeeping operations. UNEF was the first official armed peacekeeping operation modeled on Pearson's ideas. Since 1956, most UN peacekeeping forces, including those called "observer" missions, have been armed.
Cold War
Throughout the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the tensions on the UN Security Council made it difficult to implement peacekeeping measures in countries and regions seen to relate to the spread or containment of leftist and revolutionary movements. While some conflicts were separate enough from the Cold War to achieve consensus support for peacekeeping missions, most were too deeply enmeshed in the global struggle.
International conflicts
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), begun in 1964, attempted to end the conflict between the ethnic Greeks and TurksCyprus dispute
The Cyprus dispute is the result of the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey, over the Turkish occupied northern part of Cyprus....
on the island and prevent wider conflict between NATO members Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. A second observer force, UNIPOM, was also dispatched, in 1965 to the areas of the India-Pakistan border that were not being monitored by the earlier mission, UNMOGIP, after a ceasefire in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. This conflict became known as the Second Kashmir War fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir, the first having been fought in 1947...
. Neither of these disputes were seen to have Cold War or ideological implications.
There was one exception to the rule. In the Mission of the Representative of the Secretary-General in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
(DOMREP), 1965–1966, the UN authorized an observer mission in a country where ideological factions were facing off. However, the mission was only initiated after the US intervened unilaterally in a civil war between leftist and conservative factions. The US had consolidated its hold and invited a force of the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
(dominated by US troops) to keep the peace. The mission was approved mainly because the Americans presented it as fait accompli and because the UN mission was not a full peacekeeping force. It included only two observers at any time and left the peacekeeping to another international organization. It was the first time the UN operated in this manner with a regional bloc.
Decolonization
The UN also assisted with two decolonization programs during the Cold War. In 1960, the UN sent ONUC to help facilitate the decolonization of the CongoBelgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
from Belgian control. It stayed on until 1964 to help maintain stability and prevent the breakup of the country during the Congo Crisis
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu...
. In West New Guinea from 1962 to 1963, UNSF maintained law and order while the territory was transferred from Dutch colonial control to Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Middle East conflicts
The Middle East, where combatants were generally not firmly aligned with the superpowers, who mainly sought stability in the crucial oil-producing region, was the most visible location of UN peacekeeping during the Cold War. In 1958, UNOGIL was authorized to ensure that there was no illegal infiltration of personnel or supply of arms across the Lebanese borders, mainly from the UARUAR
UAR may refer to:* United Arab Republic, the state formed by the union of the republics of Egypt and Syria in 1958. It existed until Syria's secession in 1961, although Egypt continued to be known as the UAR until 1971....
. A few years later, the Yemen Observer Mission (UNYOM), authorized in 1963, attempted to end civil war in Yemen
North Yemen Civil War
The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Imam...
with sides supported by regional rivals Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. Throughout the 1970s, the UN also authorized several peacekeeping missions to attempt to calm the Arab-Israeli Conflict, in Suez (UNEF II) in 1973 and in the Golan Heights (UNDOF) in 1974 concluding the Yom Kippur War
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
, and Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1978 following the 1978 South Lebanon conflict. In the 1980s only one new mission was authorized in the region, UNIIMOG, to supervise the withdrawal of troops to the internationally recognized border between Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
after almost eight years of war
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
between those two countries.
End of the Cold War
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, the Soviet Union drastically decreased its military and economic support for a number of "proxy" civil wars across the globe. It also withdrew its support from satellite states and one UN peacekeeping mission, UNGOMAP, was designed to oversee the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan as the USSR began to refocus domestically. In 1991, the USSR dissolved into 15 independent states. Conflicts broke out in two former Soviet Republics, the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and a civil war in Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, which were eventually policed by UN peacekeeping forces, UNOMIG and UNMOT respectively.
With the end of the Cold War, a number of nations called for the UN to become an organization of world peace and do more to encourage the end to conflicts across the globe. The end of political gridlock in the Security Council helped the number of peacekeeping missions increased substantially. In a new spirit of cooperation, the Security Council established larger and more complex UN peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, peacekeeping came to involve more and more non-military elements that ensured the proper operation of civic functions, such as elections. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
Department of Peacekeeping Operations
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations is a department of the United Nations which is charged with the planning, preparation, management and direction of UN peacekeeping operations.-History of the DPKO:...
was created in 1992 to support the increased demand for such missions.
A number of missions were designed to end civil wars in which competing sides had been sponsored by Cold War players. In Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
(UNAVEM I, II and III) aimed to end fighting between rebel, anti-Communist UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
and the ruling, Communist MPLA. ONUMOZ was similarly designed to oversee the end of the conflict between the anti-Communist RENAMO and the leftist government in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, ending the Mozambican Civil War
Mozambican Civil War
The Mozambican Civil War began in 1977, two years after the end of the war of independence. The ruling party, Front for Liberation of Mozambique , was violently opposed from 1977 by the Rhodesian- and South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement...
. In Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
UNAMIC, and then UNTAC for the first time took over control of the entire state on behalf of the UN and organized and ran an election before turning control over to the elected government. In Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, ONUCA oversaw the restriction of cross-border aid by any one country to insurgencies in any other. Five nations were involved: El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, and Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. The guerrilla movements in all five countries, variously communist and anti-communist, gave way to UN-brokered peace agreements in the 1990s. In El Salvador, a further internal UN peacekeeping force, (ONUSAL), was authorized to verify the ceasefire between the socialist FMLN and the government. Similarly, in Guatemala, MINUGUA
MINUGUA
MINUGUA was a ten-year United Nations humanitarian mission in Guatemala that involved, at the most critical point in the peace process, a three-month peacekeeping mission....
was authorized in 1996 to verify the ceasefire there between leftist URNG and the conservative government.
International conflicts
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
from Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
in the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
. Following the cessation of hostilities, the UN authorized UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) to monitor the DMZ between the two countries. Two other inter-state conflicts have been the cause for UN peacekeeping since. In 1994, the UN Aouzou Strip Observer Group (UNASOG) oversaw the withdrawal of Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
from a strip of contested territory in accordance with the decision of the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
. In 2000, UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was established to monitor the cessation of hostilities after the Eritrean-Ethiopian War
Eritrean-Ethiopian War
The Eritrean–Ethiopian War took place from May 1998 to June 2000 between Ethiopia and Eritrea, forming one of the conflicts in the Horn of Africa...
.
Civil Wars
The 1990s also saw the UN refocus its attention on genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Civil War in RwandaRwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and the breakup of Yugoslavia both were occasions of widespread atrocities and ethnic violence. Eight UN peacekeeping missions have been sent to the former Yugoslavia, UNPROFOR, UNCRO, UNPREDEP
UNPREDEP
The United Nations Preventive Deployment Force was established on 31 March 1995 in Security Council Resolution 983 to replace the United Nations Protection Force in the Republic of Macedonia...
, UNMIBH, UNTAES, UNMOP, UNPSG, and UNMIK as well as two to Rwanda, UNAMIR and UNOMUR.
The collapse of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
into the Somali Civil War
Somali Civil War
The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. The conflict, which began in 1991, has caused destabilisation throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to rebel forces...
in 1991 saw UNOSOM I
UNOSOM I
United Nations Operation in Somalia I was the first part of a United Nations sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s.The operation was established...
, UNITAF
UNITAF
Unified Task Force was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia between 5 December 1992 – 4 May 1993...
, and UNOSOM II
UNOSOM II
United Nations Operation in Somalia II was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia, from March 1993 until March 1995....
fail to bring peace and stability, though they did mitigate the effects of the famine.
The First Liberian Civil War resulted in the authorization of UNOMIL in September 1993 to assist and supervise the troops of ECOWAS, which had intervened militarily at the request of the Liberian government, and oversee the maintenance of the peace agreement in the nation. However, two rebel groups instigated the Second Liberian Civil War
Second Liberian Civil War
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group backed by the government of neighbouring Guinea, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy , emerged in northern Liberia. In early 2003, a second rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia, emerged in the south, and...
in 2003, and UNMIL was dispatched to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continues to assist in national security reform.
A coup in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
in 1991, followed by internal violence, was the impetus for the UN Mission in Haiti (UNMIH). In 1996 and 1997 three missions, UNSMIH, UNTMIH, and MIPONUH, were organized with the goal of reforming, training, and assisting the police through a period of political turmoil. A rebellion in 2004 saw the ouster of the President and the UN-authorized MINUSTAH to stabilize the country.
In Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, the UN initially sponsored UNMIS to enforce a ceasefire between the SPLA and the Sudanese government. Since then, rebel groups in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
have clashed with government-sponsored forces
War in Darfur
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
, resulting in UNAMID, the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur. Violence in Darfur, spilled over the border into Chad and the Central African Republic. In 2007, MINURCAT was deployed to minimize violence to civilians and prevent interference of aid distribution related to violence in Darfur.
The UN has also organized single peacekeeping missions aimed at ending civil wars in a number of coutnries. In Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
(MINURCA), 1998, was created to oversee the disarmament of several mutinous groups of former CAR military personnel and militias as well as to assist with the training of a new national police and the running of elections. The mission was extended after successful elections to help ensure further stability. In Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone Civil War
The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...
, UNOMSIL/UNAMSIL) in 1999, followed the ECOMOG-led restoration of the government after a coup
Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
The Armed Forces Revolutionary Council was a group of Sierra Leone soldiers that allied itself with the rebel Revolutionary United Front in the late 1990s. While the AFRC briefly controlled the country in 1998, it was driven from the capital by a coalition of West African troops...
. In 1999, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
MONUC was designed to monitor the ceasefire after the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
--it continues to operate due to continuing violence in parts of the DRC. In Cote d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
, UNOCI was dispatched to enforce a 2004 peace agreement ending the Ivorian Civil War, though the country remains divided. Following ceasefire agreements ending the Burundi Civil War
Burundi Civil War
The Burundi Civil War was an armed conflict lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of long standing ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes in Burundi...
, was authorized in 2004 to oversee the implementation of the Arusha Peace Accords.
Independence facilitation efforts
UN Peacekeepers have also been used to oversee independence movements and the establishment of new states. Beginning in 1989, UNTAG in NamibiaNamibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
oversaw the withdrawal of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the election of a new government. In 1991, a ceasefire and referendum were planned by Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
regarding the region of Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
. Disagreements prevented the referendum, but the ceasefire continues to be monitored by MINURSO. In East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
, in 1999, a referendum voted for independence from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. Violence by anti-independence forces followed and UNTAET was set up to establish control and administer the territory until independence, after which an assistance mission was established, UNMISET. Violence during 2006 led to the establishment of UNMIT, which continues to monitor the situation.
Assessment
A 2005 RAND Corporation study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that seven out of eight UN cases are at peace, as opposed to four out of eight US cases at peace. Also in 2005, the Human Security ReportHuman Security Report 2005
The Human Security Report 2005 is a report outlining declining world trends of global violence from the early 1990s to 2003. The study reported major worldwide declines in the number of armed conflicts, genocides, military coups and international crises, as well as in the number of battle-related...
documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism — mostly spearheaded by the UN — has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.
The UN has also drawn criticism for perceived failures. In some cases, the Security Council has failed to pass resolutions or the member states
United Nations member states
There are 193 United Nations member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly.The criteria for admission of new members are set out in the United Nations Charter, Chapter II, Article 4, as follows:...
have been reluctant to fully enforce them in the face of deteriorating conditions. Disagreements in the Security Council are seen as having failed to prevent the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
. UN and international inaction has also been cited for failing to intervene and provide sufficient humanitarian aid during the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
, the failure of UN peacekeepers to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre
Srebrenica massacre
The Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
, failure to provide effective humanitarian aid in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
, failing to implement provisions of Security Council resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, and continuing failure to prevent genocide or provide assistance in Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
.
One suggestion to address the problem of delays such as the one in Rwanda, is a rapid reaction force: a standing group, administered by the UN and deployed by the Security Council that receives its troops and support from current Security Council members and is ready for quick deployment in the event of future genocides.
UN peacekeepers have also been accused of sexual abuse including child rape, gang rape, and soliciting prostitutes during peacekeeping missions in the Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sudan, Burundi, and Côte d'Ivoire.
In response to criticism, including reports of sexual abuse by peacekeepers, the UN has taken steps toward reforming its operations. The Brahimi Report
Report of the Panel on United Nations Peacekeeping
The Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations is commonly called the Brahimi Report, named for the chairman of the commission that produced it, Lakhdar Brahimi...
was the first of many steps to recap former peacekeeping missions, isolate flaws, and take steps to patch these mistakes to ensure the efficiency of future peacekeeping missions. The UN has vowed to continue to put these practices into effect when performing peacekeeping operations in the future. The technocratic aspects of the reform process have been continued and revitalised by the DPKO in its 'Peace Operations 2010' reform agenda. The 2008 capstone doctrine entitled "United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines" incorporates and builds on the Brahimi analysis.
See also
- International Day of United Nations PeacekeepersInternational Day of United Nations PeacekeepersThe "International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers", May 29, is "a day to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in United Nations peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication, and courage and to honor the memory of those who...
- Attacks on humanitarian workersAttacks on humanitarian workersHumanitarian aid workers belonging to United Nations organisations, PVOs / NGOs or the Red Cross / Red Crescent have traditionally enjoyed both international legal protection, and de facto immunity from attack by belligerent parties. However, attacks on humanitarian workers have occasionally...
External links
- UN peacekeeping home includes history, news, and links to other related UN sites. (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish)
- UN peacekeeping proposal: The presentation of the Eurocorps-Foreign Legion concept and its Single European Regiment at the European Parliament in June 2003
- A historical perspective of UN peace-keeping