UN Peacekeeping
The 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping is cause for celebration. Research shows that UN troops can effectively curtail violence in wars between and within states. Yet, peacekeeping has always been shaped by the geopolitical landscape, and the renewed great power competition coupled with antiliberal tendencies worldwide are a formidable challenge for the organization, argues Corinne Bara in this edition of the CSS Analyses in Security Policy Series.
In 2023, the world celebrates the 75th anniversary of UN peacekeeping. It was in the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 that the UN first tested the seemingly outlandish idea of sending soldiers not to wage war, but to keep the peace. The UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) was to help Israel and its neighboring Arab states maintain a ceasefire. The iconic image of blue helmets has since come to symbolize the UN’s work amidst the chaos of war. Since 1948, more than two million men and women have served in 71 UN missions, and more than 4,300 peacekeepers from 130 countries have been killed in the service of peace.
“Research shows that UN peace operations can reduce violence in wars.”Corinne Bara
Over the past decade, a broad consensus has emerged that peacekeeping works. This consensus marks a shift from earlier assessments. When blue helmets were powerless in the face of massacres in Rwanda and Srebrenica in the mid-1990s, it appeared that deploying lightly armed soldiers amidst belligerents determined to kill was idealistic. The assessment changed when researchers began asking whether (even flawed) peacekeeping was better than no peacekeeping at all. They concluded that it is. As UN peacekeeping goes through a crisis in a divided world – there has been no new military mission since 2014 – it is more important than ever to reflect on 75 years of experience to understand how peacekeeping saves lives, and what challenges it faces.