Peacekeeping is the act of maintaining peace between two groups of people or nations that are in a state of conflict. It is one of the most significant forms of foreign policy in modern times and was frequently used throughout the 20th century by the United Nations and its member nations. As such, peacekeeping is an important topic in relation to modern wars and conflicts.
PEACEKEEPING – UNITED NATIONS
As stated above, the United Nations (UN) is an important factor in the use of peacekeeping. The UN is an international organization that is headquartered in New York City, United States. It is one of the most important international organizations in the world today, as it deals with major issues facing humanity. For instance, the United Nations (UN) is tasked with promoting and maintaining peace between nations. This is achieved through several different ways, including the use of peacekeeping missions. Click here to read more about the United Nations’ Peacekeeping missions.
The UN carries out these peacekeeping missions in situations in which two nations or groups of people are in a state of conflict. The UN tries to achieve this by using a military force made up of soldiers, police officers and other personnel from across the different member nations of the UN. In general, these soldiers (referred to as ‘peacekeepers’) do not use military violence to maintain peace but rather act as a sort of referee in negotiations between the two opposing sides. United Nations peacekeepers do this by monitoring peace negotiations and ensuring both sides fulfill their promises of peace. Sometimes these UN peacekeepers are referred to as ‘Blue Helmets’ due to their distinctive blue helmets used while on mission.
Peacekeeping as a form of maintaining world peace became popular following the creation of the United Nations. The first UN peacekeeping mission was carried out in 1948 in the state of Israel. At the time, there was a great deal of conflict between Israel and its neighboring Arab nations. This was because the state of Israel had just been created out of the former Palestine, which created a conflict between the new Jewish state and its Muslim neighbors. During a ceasefire between the nations, the UN sent in a force of peacekeepers to try to maintain the peace. The mission was called the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and was established on May 29th, 1948. The UNSTO peacekeeping force was made up many different types of personnel who worked to maintain the ceasefire while also overseeing other agreements between the two sides. In fact, the UNSTO still operates in the Middle East today as part of the UN’s commitment to promote peace in the region.
PEACEKEEPING – SIGNIFICANT PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS
Throughout its history, the UN has launched many more peacekeeping missions, and some of these have become very famous. Below is a short list of some of these memorable peacekeeping missions and other significant events related to the United Nations:
- 1956 – United Nations carried out major peacekeeping mission in Egypt. Launched to end the Suez Crisis.
- 1950s and 1960s – United Nations peacekeeping forces operate on the southern border of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea following the end of the Korean War in 1953.
- 1988 – Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the ‘United Nations Peacekeeping Forces’ for their contributions in maintaining world peace.
- 1992 to 1995 – United Nations Protection Force. Peacekeeping mission in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the events of the Bosnian Genocide.
- 1993 to 1996 – United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. Peacekeeping mission in Rwanda that aimed at ending the conflict but ultimately failed. The major events of the Rwandan Genocide resulted.
