Half billion people around the world live in continuous violence, that is unstoppable. In many of these places, from the Middle East to Africa, not the police officers or government officials that enforce the order and security within the war zones. However, it is the blue-helmeted troops of the United Nations. According to the Crisis of Peacekeeping reading, UN peacekeepers make up the second-largest military force deployed abroad, after the U.S. military. Their role is mainly set out to protect civilians, train police forces, disarm militias, monitor human rights abuses, organize elections, provide emergency relief, rebuild court systems, inspect prisons, and promote gender equality.
The UN as an organization did and still facing challenges, in regards to creating world peace in war zones around the world. The failure of the UN in avoiding conflicts is ongoing, and the best example for that will be the situation of Yemen (the longest war). The UN failed to regain stability in the Yemen region. I think that the failure can be result of multiple factors, such as the structure of the organization itself. The power of the security council members in making war zones decisions can be viewed as conflict of interest.
According to the “Crisis of Peacekeeping” reading, the reason for this failure is a lack of resources; since the UN relies on contributions from its members. Also, the question of fundamental misunderstanding about what makes for a sustained peace.
Ghada,
The issue that you have focused on is certainly one of the most difficult problems that the United Nations has to deal with. In this era of civil war and conflict by non-state actors, it has become increasingly difficult for the UN to gain the consensus needed to intervene. As you know, the permanent members of the UN Security Council each have a veto, which they are unafraid to use. This was the reason, for example, why the UN was unable to intervene in the Balkan war, and it fell to a “coalition of the willing” (NATO member states) to force a ceasefire and ultimately a peace agreement.
The situation in Yemen is equally complicated, as I’m sure you know. You have the Saudis on one side, and the Houthis, who are being sponsored by Iran, on the other. And there are member states also backing one side or the other. So the UN has been deadlocked, as it often is. And then, as you point out, there are issues about who will pay the cost of the peacekeeping forces? –Professor Wallerstein