“The maintenance of international peace and security through the deployment of military forces in a particular area” (Dictionary.com 2014)
It has generally been accepted by the international community that the responsibility of peacekeeping falls onto the United Nations. It is the role of the UN’s 192 member states to supply money and troops to fund and facilitate peacekeeping operations.
A.J Bellamy and P. Williams argue that globalisation has been a deciding factor in the evolution of peacekeeping. Historically the primary role of peacekeeping was between two states. Now peacekeeping more commonly involves many state actors and any powerful groups with access to global communication. The traditional idea of peacekeeping as dispute settlement between states is considered to be a Westphalian (importance of state sovereignty) ideal. It can be argued that liberalism is an apt international relations theory used to explain our international community. From the liberalist perspective in regards to peacekeeping we are now in a post-westphalian era where the interest of fostering and maintaining world order based on a liberal democracy is more important than state sovereignty, thus allowing international governing bodies such as the UN to send peacekeeping forces into a nation to settle internal unrest.
“SOVEREIGNTY AS RESPONSIBILITY” – This is the idea that state sovereignty is only an inherent right of states if the state in question protects the fundamental human rights of its citizens. If human rights standards (as set down by the UN Declaration of Human Rights) are not met then state sovereignty is void.
Currently the United Nations is the only international governing body with the rights to breach state sovereignty to protect civilians. In 2007 The UN released the Capstone Doctrine which outlined the standard of conduct for its peace operations. The Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has five steps which must be followed in order in regards to peacekeeping operations. They are;
- Conflict Prevention – structural and diplomatic preventative measures,
- Peacemaking – bringing hostile parties into negotiation
- Peacekeeping – military, police and civilian personnel to lay the foundations of sustainable peace
- Peace Enforcement – at the will of the UN Security Council, peacekeepers may use force to protect civilians and may participate in armed conflict if attacked.
- Peace Building – reducing the rick of relapse into conflict. (United Nations Peacekeeping Operations Capstone Doctrine, 2008, p1)
The United Nations has 3 basic principles that its peacekeepers abide by;
- Consent of the parties;
- Impartiality;
- Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate. (United Nations Peacekeeping 2014)
The final point on this list is currently being challenged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where for the first time the United Nations has allowed a mandate which gives UN peacekeeping forces in the DRC the right to use force to ensure the safety of civilians. This decision is in accordance with Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.
The situation in the DRC is revolutionary in regards to peacekeeping. It is the only occurrence where the UN nations mandate has stated that UN peacekeeping forces may,
“use all necessary means to carry out its mandate relating, among other things, to the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts.” (United Nations MONUSCO, 2014)
Some Quick and Relevant References:
United Nations, Charter of the United Nations Chapter VII: Action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. United Nations, viewed 22nd May 2014, http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter7.shtml
United Nations, Protecting Civilians and consolidating peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’, MONUSCO, viewed 20th May 2014, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/monusco/
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