Responsibility of UN Peacekeeping Operations - Essay Example

Peacekeeping has been one of the United Nation’s most effective tools when required to intervene in conflicts involving member states. The UN, through peacekeeping operations, has provided security and support in peacebuilding for its member states since the post-WWII period. This has been possible because, as a direct mandate of the UN’s highest council, the UNSC, UNPOs possess unique strengths. These include the ability to deploy police and troops from around the world and sustain them over long periods, sharing of the operations’ burdens, and legitimacy of its mandate2. In carrying out their mandate, UN peacekeeping, however, is required to be impartial, have consent from the parties, and only use force to defend their mandate or in self-defense.

In discussing the responsibility of peacekeeping missions, this paper will examine the legal basis of UN peacekeeping missions, their mandate, and the principles that guide these mandates. UN peacekeeping operations were first authorized by the UNSC in 1948 with the deployment of observers during the Israeli-Arab Armistice. However, it was soon a victim of the paralysis present within the UNSC during its infancy due to the Cold War, limiting its role to providing fundamental support for peaceful conflict resolutions and supervising ceasefire agreements3.

The deployment to observe Armistice agreements between Arab states and Israel and between Pakistan and India, the first two operations mandated by the UNSC, however, remain active to date. The peacekeeping mission to address the Suez Crisis in 1956 was the first successful armed deployment, while the UN Operation in the Congo was the first large-scale operation in 19604. During the 60s and 70s, missions to Yemen, West New Guinea, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, and the Middle East were established.

The thawing of Cold War tensions in the 80s and 90s dramatically expanded the scope and dimension of UN peacekeeping operations. This period was characterized by numerous missions to Namibia, Mozambique, El Salvador, Cambodia, and Angola, as well as to Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Somalia.