Peace(keeping) operations: Soldiers without enemies?

Hassler, Sabine

Abstract

Peacekeeping as an operative tool has existed almost for as long as the United Nations (UN) and while its value is recognised, indeed it has become an all-encompassing means to building, securing and maintaining peace, it was never meant to exist. The drafters of the UN Charter and its framework had envisaged a system of collective security that was very much built on the experiences of the past. Yet, events immediately evidenced that the new world order was not going to be easily managed by the rules and regulations that proved already out of step with the times. The UN, however, proved that there is room for innovation and interpretation within its system; so much so that a tool could be created that had been neither envisaged nor does it have, to this day, a legal foundation in the UN Charter. Rather, peacekeeping was put under the auspices and authority of the UN Security Council which administers missions with reference to UN Charter terminology but without generally anchoring them to any particular Chapter or Article. Despite their flexible and versatile nature, peacekeeping has over the years faced a variety of challenges and suffered from a range of drawbacks that might under different circumstances have caused calls for abolition of the whole initiative. Peacekeeping, however, has endured and is undergoing a renewed transformation to make the future of peace operations part of the continued UN narrative.

• Online Publication Date: Jul 21, 2022
• Publication Date: Jul 21, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jul 29, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 22, 2024
• Pages: 201-227
• Edition: 1
• Book Title: International Conflict and Security Law: A Research Handbook
• ISBN: 9789462655140
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-515-7_9
• Keywords: Peacekeeping; peace keeping operations; source of authority; legitimacy; Security Council; mandate; contemporary challenges; future of peace operations
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9719671
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-6265-515-7_9
• Contract Date: Jul 6, 2019