United Nations Peacekeeping

Main Topic: Coordinator Comments

As of mid-2008, the list of peacekeeping operations published by the United Nations included 46 operations as well as 16 "civilian police support groups." Details of current operations may be found on the UN website. Most of the operations and all of the police support have taken place since the end of the Cold War, at which point the Security Council began to act without the threat of a Soviet veto.

No doubt the UN peacekeeping operations have prevented a great deal of suffering from those who were caught up in the violence that was addressed by the peacekeeping operations. In fact, the peacekeeping operations received the Nobel Peace Prize for this reason in 1988, and many believe that had a peacekeeping operation been established in Rwanda, the genocide in that country could have been prevented.

But have the peacekeeping operations brought the world closer to a culture of peace?

Back in 1992, at UNESCO it was argued that military force by itself could not establish a culture of peace, and for that reason the UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme was established as an alternative.

One criticism of UN peacekeeping is that it supports the balance of power in the world based on a culture of war, by reinforcing the military power of the permanent members of the Security Council.