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United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Assignment

   

Added on  2020-10-22

29 Pages8965 Words426 Views
Peacekeeping today does notmean what it did fifty yearsago

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1Evolution and development ............................................................................................................2United nation's peacekeeping operation .....................................................................................2Analysing effectiveness of peacekeeping ...................................................................................3History and evolution ..................................................................................................................4Implementation of peacekeeping operations...................................................................................5Principles and guidelines ............................................................................................................5Types of peacekeeping operations ..............................................................................................6Planning and implementation......................................................................................................7Analysing the role of consent in peacekeeping ...........................................................................8Significance and consequences of peacekeeping operations ......................................................9Legal considerations in peacekeeping ......................................................................................10Regional institutes and UN peacekeeping ................................................................................11Evaluation of conceptual frameworks for UN peacekeeping operation ...................................12Suggested improvements ..............................................................................................................14Analysing transition from peacekeeping to peace enforcement ...............................................14Challenges and loopholes .........................................................................................................15Suggested reforms .....................................................................................................................15CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................17REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTIONPeacekeeping operations are defined as the dynamic operations or the strategies whichaim to help the nations which undergo tremendous loss of life and property, as a result ofconflicts and wars. The Department of peacekeeping operations of United Nations is responsiblefor achieving peacekeeping goals on global front and is intended to establish the conditionswhich favour the peaceful living1. For managing the conflicts international communities favourpeacekeeping operations as an effective way to safeguard and protect the peace and security inthe region. Over the 70 year journey of United nations the peacemaking efforts have taken severaltransformations. With the global dependencies of nations over each other for development andsecurity the peacekeeping principles of UN are considered as effective guidelines to sustain thepeaceful living throughout the world. Peacekeeping operations are usually deployed in theregions which are experiencing or are highly vulnerable to violence or conflicting environment.These missions of UN aims at reducing severity of violence, protecting the safety rights ofcivilians and to help in recurrence in after war situations2. This aspect of UN operations hasundergone into vast range of changes. The peacekeeping authorities monitors and establish peace in the conflicting regions ofworld through peace agreements3. The United nations security council take necessary actions tomaintain and establish security and peace within international communities. The conflicts withinthe nations can lead to huge number of deaths and damage to the local communities. Thus beinga responsible global agency the peacekeeping operations of UN help nations to seek a propersolution for dealing with such conflicting situations. During war situations the human rights areviolated to significant extent and it becomes vital to protect the civilians through internationalinterventions. 1Abilova, O. and Novosseloff, A., 2016. Demystifying intelligence in UN peace operations: Toward an organizational doctrine.2Nadin, P. ed., 2018.The Use of Force in UN Peacekeeping. Routledge.3Bellamy, A.J. and Hunt, C.T., 2015. Twenty-first century UN peace operations: protection, force and the changing security environment.International Affairs,91(6), pp.1277-1298.1

United nations has the authority to directly interrupt in the national or local conflicts. Itcan help its member nations to shift from conflict and critical situations to peaceful state4. Thepeacekeeping operations are vital for creating democratic, prosperous and safe livingenvironment for all the international communities. The demand for peacekeeping operations hasbeen rising significantly so that armed conflicts can be reduced. These operations haveencouraged drastic and valuable transformations in regions such as Somalia, Syria and Bosnia.Though every peacekeeping operation has not brought equal success but it has highlighted theneed that world needs clear policy and strategic framework which aims at restoring peace. The essay aims at evaluating the peacekeeping operations of UN and the significance ofthese operations for the security of safety rights of civilians. It will also discuss the history andincreasing role of these operations for integrating peace with globalisation5. The essay will alsoanalyse the principles and implementation of peacekeeping. It will also evaluate the legalconsiderations and consent provided by the regional authorities to help UN in achieving its peaceobjectives. The study will also demonstrate the various challenges faced by the UN inaccomplishing its peacekeeping operations. Further the document will also suggest reformationswhich can improve the efficiency of the peacekeeping operations. Evolution and development United nation's peacekeeping operation The peacekeeping operations are developed and used by the UN to resolve the armedconflicts. With the end of cold war there has been repeated incidences of conflicts between worldpowers. With the increasing interconnections and interdependencies the conflicts are quitecommon among the nations6. The long term imposition of armed forces and their consequenceson humanitarian aspects urges the need of strong peacekeeping practices. The negative side ofthe globalisation has also changed the nature and practices of peacekeeping operations. 4Berdal, M. and Ucko, D.H., 2015. The use of force in UN peacekeeping operations: Problems and prospects.The RUSI Journal,160(1), pp.6-12.5Aoi, C., De Coning, C. and Karlsrud, J., 2017. Introduction: Addressing the emerging gap between concepts, doctrine, and practice in UN peacekeeping operations. InUN Peacekeeping Doctrine in a New Era(pp. 21-50). Routledge. pp.352-376. 6Coleman, K.P., 2017. Extending UN Peacekeeping Financing Beyond UN PeacekeepingOperations? The Prospects and Challenges of Reform.Global Governance,23(1).2

The cross border violence, accumulation of the illicit arms and highly explosive materialsare easily available and can be used by any region or economy to completely destroy the otherregion. It is the responsibility of peacekeepers to associate with the local stakeholders so thatpeace can be regained. Peacekeeping forces are believed to sustain their non-military nature sothat violence and life threatening war situations can be avoided7. However, the peacekeepingoperations can take the form of armed forces in situations when quick actions are required toestablish the peaceful environment. The successful peacekeeping operations cannot be executed without support of localorganisations. The major emphasis of peacekeeping operations is on civilian dimensions. Thecivilians are indirect or the deliberate target of armed conflicts and thus these peacekeepingforces consider it is their primary role to protect them. There are states which have failed toassure the security and healthy living for the citizens and thus it encourages the need of globalsystem of peacekeeping8. Analysing effectiveness of peacekeeping The peacekeepers are established in the regions facing lingering or ongoing violence. Thekey priorities for such peacekeeping missions is to deal with the violence. The major criteria forevaluating the success of peacekeeping lies in the ability to limit the armed conflicts as well as inpreventing the renewal of such situations in the future9. The effectiveness of the peacekeeping operations was evaluated largely by evaluation ofthe outcomes of conflicts and violence. In terms of reducing the severity of conflict outcomesand extent of violence these practices have been proved greatly effective. However, there areseveral aspects which influence the peacemaking strategies. Along with the violencepeacekeeping operations are also focused to address the issues such as refugee flow, economicreconstruction and implications of peacekeeping for host nations. 7Foley, C., 2017.UN peacekeeping operations and the protection of civilians: saving succeeding generations. Cambridge University Press.8Uesugi, Y., 2004. The nexus between UN peacekeeping and human security: Reviewing the functions of UN peacekeeping from a perspective of human security.Conflict and Human Security: A Search for New Approaches of Peace-building, (19), pp.96-123. 9Fung, C.J., 2015. What explains China's deployment to UN peacekeeping operations?.International Relations of the Asia-Pacific,16(3), pp.409-441. 3

According to10 There have been several incidences in which despite the presence of UNpeacekeepers the civilians were not safeguarded. Bosnia and Rwanda are the well knownexamples in which the presence of peacekeepers does not bring any significant difference in thesituation. The key principle of peacekeeping operations is that it allows force implications onlyfor the self defence. It acts as one of the key factor which affects the effectiveness ofpeacekeeping operation. History and evolution Initially the peacekeeping missions of UN were accomplished for maintaining the ceasefire agreements. Post world war 2 these operations were limited to resolve the shared concerns ofglobal powers. At the time of cold war very few peacekeeping missions were executed. Theirscope was to emphasis and monitor the peace agreements. For several years only internationalconflicts were prioritised by these peacekeeping agencies. However, during the period 1989 to1994 peacekeeper missions were increased11. For the next few years UN began to send its troops in the conflicting regions as an act ofhumanitarian intervention so that peace can be established. The 1992 peace agenda gave strongsupport to peacekeeping operations. In the year 1992 department of peacekeeping operations wasestablished so that peacekeeping activities can be performed with more effectiveness. From theimplications of failure in maintaining peace in Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda continuous effortshave been made by UN to reform the peacekeeping bureaucracy12. The evolution and growth ofpeacekeeping operations are accomplished by several challenges such as recruiting personneland military forces. At the time of cold war UN peacekeeping operations were mainly concerned forseparation of antagonistic forces and to monitor the cease fires so that hostility resumption canbe discouraged. However, with the end of war peace enforcement and peacekeeping capabilities10Hultman, L., Kathman, J.D. and Shannon, M., 2016. United Nations peacekeeping dynamics and the duration of post-civil conflict peace.Conflict Management and Peace Science,33(3), pp.231-249.11de Coning, C., 2017. Peace enforcement in Africa: doctrinal distinctions between the African Union and United Nations.Contemporary Security Policy,38(1), pp.145-160.12Karlsrud, J., 2015.Norm Change in International Relations: Linked Ecologies in UN Peacekeeping Operations. Routledge. 4

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