| ID | 167914 |
| Title Proper | Why Peacekeeping Fails |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Jett, Dennis |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | There are 14 UN peace operations underway around the world, employing almost 100,000 soldiers, policemen and civilians at an annual cost of nearly $7 billion. Since it began its first peacekeeping efforts in 1948, the UN has launched over 70 such missions. Peacekeeping, and the wars it is supposed to help end, have evolved over that time. The earliest efforts concerned wars between countries over territory and were operations with straightforward goals. As peacekeeping became applied to civil wars, the objectives became complex and much more difficult. The most recent missions have had to deal with violent extremism, and that has made it impossible for the peacekeepers to succeed. The result is that peacekeeping today makes little contribution to peace and the peacekeepers have become ineffective and increasingly victims of the conflicts with which they have been asked to deal. To put it somewhat metaphorically, peacekeeping is a bandage and not a cure. It can help stop the bleeding, but it cannot heal the wound. To explain why that is the case requires tracing the changes in warfare and describing what the peacekeepers are asked to do as opposed to what they are capable of doing. |
| `In' analytical Note | Middle East Policy Vol. 26, No.1; Spring 2019: p.89-96 |
| Journal Source | Middle East Policy Vol: 26 No 1 |
| Key Words | Peacekeeping ; UN Peace Operations |