With a large force of soldiers and police officers in the field, Peacekeeping mission are an important part of the United Nations’ (UN) broader efforts to build and sustain global peace. But UN peace operations face a series of perverse effects, including a lack of high-level political progress, financial pressure, and geopolitical rivalry. These problems have contributed to a decline in the number of missions and a decline in public confidence in peacekeeping as an instrument of international stability.
When a conflict breaks out, UN peacekeeping missions are deployed to prevent an accidental outbreak of violence and ensure that both sides follow a negotiated ceasefire agreement. They also provide law and order, facilitate the disarmament and demobilisation of armed groups and assist in forming post-conflict governments, civilian administration, institutions and services.
The UN peacekeeping doctrine evolved from a focus on policing and monitoring to comprehensive peacebuilding strategies. These include tackling the root causes of the conflict, building resilience to future conflict, and supporting national authorities in taking on peacebuilding responsibilities.
The scope of a peacekeeping mission is dictated by its Security Council mandate, which can range from a simple task like ceasefire observation to an ambitious undertaking such as overhauling a government. The dotted line represents the scenario S3 with traditional mandates; the long dashed line is S4—a transformational mandate scenario. Both scenarios have a similar budget of US$100 million per mandate year. But a mission’s size is just one element of the equation: its mandate must be realistic and appropriately match its resources to achieve a desired effect.