Peacekeeping operations refer to activities aimed at creating conditions conducive to lasting harmony. Research generally shows that maintaining calm reduces civilian and battlefield deaths and reduces the risk of renewed hostilities.
The essence of peacekeeping operations
There is a common understanding within the group of governments and the United Nations (UN) that, at the international level, defenders control and oversee developments in post-conflict areas. And they can help ex-combatants fulfill their obligations under peace agreements. Such assistance takes many forms, including confidence-building measures, power-sharing mechanisms, electoral support, the strengthening of the rule of law, and social and economic development. Accordingly, UN peacekeepers, often referred to as blue berets or hard hats because of their distinctive helmets, may include soldiers, police officers, and civilians.staff.
The United Nations is not the only system that carries out peacekeeping operations. Non-UN forces include the NATO missions in Kosovo (with the permission of the higher authority) and the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula or those organized by the European Union (for example, the EU KFOR with the permission of the UN) and the African Union (missions in Sudan). Non-violent NGO peacekeepers have experience in real operations. These are, for example, non-governmental volunteers or activists.
Russian peacekeeping operations
Historically, the central principles of international peacekeeping were formulated by Western powers in connection with their political and ideological dominance in international institutions. Including the United Nations (UN) family.
Only recently emerging powers have joined this community. Including the peacekeeping operations of Russia and China, began to formulate their own policies to maintain agreement. And today many actions are carried out in practice. While the overall goals in the understanding of Western countries and emerging powers are similar, there are differences in emphasis. Recent events in Syria and Russia's active involvement in peacekeeping operations have highlighted the ambiguous understanding that these two approaches hold.
Distinction
For the United States and many European countries, the goal of conflict resolution is to protect individual rights and freedoms. And also in achieving a “democratic transition”by replacing authoritarian regimes with liberal democratic alternatives. For Russia in peacekeeping operations, as for many other new powers, the goal of conflict resolution and peacekeeping is to preserve and strengthen local state structures so that they can maintain law and order on their territory and stabilize the situation in the country and the region.
The Western approach assumes that donor countries know better what to do about local problems. Whereas the goal of the rising powers is far less dogmatic and recognizes the right of subjects to make mistakes along the way. This article discusses the approaches of the Russian peacekeeping operation, as they are defined theoretically and practically.
Cold War peacekeeping
Following the independence of India and Pakistan in August 1947 and the ensuing bloodshed that followed the Security Council, Resolution 39 (1948) was adopted in January 1948 to establish the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNSIP). The main goal is to mediate the dispute between the two countries over Kashmir and related hostilities.
This operation was of a non-interventional nature and, in addition, she was entrusted with monitoring the ceasefire signed by Pakistan and India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. With the adoption of the Karachi Agreement in July 1949, UNCIP controlled the ceasefire line, which was mutually observed by unarmed military men from the UN and local commanders.on each side of the dispute. The UNSIP mission in the region continues to this day. It is now known as the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
Since then, 69 peacekeeping operations have been authorized and deployed in various countries. The vast majority of these operations began after the Cold War. Between 1988 and 1998, 35 UN missions were deployed. This meant a significant increase from the periods between 1948 and 1978, which saw the creation and deployment of only thirteen UN peacekeeping operations. And not one between 1978 and 1988.
Significant events
Military intervention first appeared in the form of UN involvement in the Suez Crisis in 1956. The Emergency Force (UNEF-1), which existed from November 1956 to June 1967, was, in fact, the first international peacekeeping operation. The UN was mandated to secure a cessation of hostilities between Egypt, Britain, France and Israel. This is in addition to supervising the withdrawal of all troops from the territory of the first state. Following the completion of said withdrawal, UNEF served as a buffer force between Egyptian and Israeli forces to oversee the terms of the ceasefire and help build a lasting agreement.
Shortly after, the United Nations launched a peacekeeping operation in the Congo (ONUC). It happened in 1960. More than 20,000 troops participated in its peak, resulting in the death of 250 UN personnel,including General Secretary Dag Hammarskjöld. ONUC and the peacekeeping operation in the Congo itself was supposed to ensure the withdrawal of the Belgian forces, which reasserted themselves after the Congolese independence and after the uprising carried out by the Force Publique (FP) in order to protect Belgian citizens and economic interests.
ONUC was also tasked with establishing and maintaining law and order (helping end the OP insurgency and ethnic violence), as well as providing technical assistance and training to the Congolese security forces. An additional feature was added to the ONUC mission in which the military was tasked with maintaining the territorial integrity and political independence of the Congo. The result was the secession of the mineral-rich provinces of Katanga and South Kasai. Although many condemned the UN forces in this dispute, the organization more or less became the arm of the Congolese government. It was at that time that the military helped stop the division of provinces by force.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the UN created many short term assignments around the world. Including the mission of the Representative of the Secretary General in the Dominican Republic (DOMREP), the Security Forces in Western New Guinea (UNGU), the Yemeni Monitoring Organization (UNYOM). All of this combined with longer-term operations such as the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), Emergency Action II (UNEF II), Disengagement Observer Peacekeepers (UNDOF) and Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Peacekeeping, against human trafficking and forcedprostitution
Since the 1990s, UN people have been the target of numerous allegations of abuse ranging from rape and sexual assault to paedophilia and human trafficking. Complaints came from Cambodia, East Timor and West Africa. First of all, peacekeeping operations were sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina. There, prostitution associated with trafficked women skyrocketed and often operated just outside the gates of UN buildings.
David Lam, Regional Human Rights Officer in Bosnia from 2000 to 2001, stated: “The sex slave trade is largely driven by a UN peacekeeping operation. Without it, there would not be enough tourists in the country or, in general, there would be no forced prostitution.” In addition, hearings held by the US House of Agents in 2002 revealed that members of the SPS often visited Bosnian brothels and engaged in sex with victims of human trafficking and underage girls.
Reporters have witnessed a rapid increase in prostitution in Cambodia, Mozambique, Bosnia and Kosovo after the UN. And in the case of the last 2 - NATO peacekeeping forces. In a 1996 United Nations study titled "The Impact of a Multi-Armed Incident on a Child", the former First Lady of Mozambique, Graça Machel, documented: forces was associated with a rapid increase in infant prostitution "Fortunately, soonThe UN took action to address this fact, which was very successful.
United Nations peacekeeping missions
Consent transactions cover a range of different types of activities. In Fortna Page's book, peacemaking works best. For example, she identifies four different types of peacekeeping missions. It is important to note that these mission entities and how they are conducted are heavily influenced by the mandate they are mandated to.
Three of the four types of Fortna are consent-based transactions. Therefore, they require the consent of the warring factions. And the participants in peacekeeping operations are obliged to act strictly within the given limits. If they lose this consent, the military will be forced to retreat. The fourth mission, on the other hand, does not require harmony. If consent is lost at any time, this mission does not need to be revoked.
Views
Groups consisting of small contingents of military or civilian contemplators tasked with overseeing a ceasefire, withdrawal, or other conditions set out in a professional agreement are generally unarmed, and are primarily tasked with observing and reporting what is happening. Thus, they do not have the ability or mandate to intervene if either side withdraws from the agreement. Examples of observation missions include UNAVEM II in Angola in 1991 and MINURSO in Western Sahara.
Inter-position missions, also known astraditional peacekeeping forces are larger contingents of lightly armed troops designed to act as a buffer between warring factions after a conflict. Thus, they are an area between two parties and can monitor and report compliance with either of them. But only strictly according to the parameters that are set in this ceasefire agreement. Examples include UNAVEM III in Angola in 1994 and MINUGUA in Guatemala in 1996.
Multiple missions are carried out by military and police personnel. In them they try to create reliable and comprehensive settlements. They not only act as observers or perform a cross-sectoral role, but also participate in more multifaceted tasks such as election oversight, police and security reform, institution building, economic development, and more. Examples include UNTAG in Namibia, ONUSAL in El Salvador and ONUMOZ in Mozambique.
Peace enforcement missions, unlike the previous ones, do not require the consent of the belligerents. These are multifaceted operations involving both civilian and military personnel. The fighting force is significant in size and fairly well equipped with UN peacekeeping standards. They are authorized to use weapons not only for self-defense. Examples are ECOMOG and UNAMSIL in West Africa and Sierra Leone in 1999, and NATO operations in Bosnia - SAF and SFOR.
UN missions during and after the Cold War
During this period, the military was mainly interpositional in nature. Therefore, such actions were called traditionalpeacekeeping. UN citizens were deployed after the interstate conflict to serve as a buffer between the warring factions and enforce the terms of the established peace agreement. The missions were based on consent, and more often than not, the observers were unarmed. This was the case for UNTSO in the Middle East and UNCIP in India and Pakistan. Others were armed - for example, UNEF-I, created during the Suez Crisis. They were largely successful in this role.
In the post-Cold War era, the United Nations has taken a more diversified and multifaceted approach to peacekeeping. In 1992, after the Cold War, then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali produced a report detailing his ambitious vision for the United Nations and peacekeeping operations in general. The report, titled "An Agenda for Consent," outlines a multifaceted and interconnected set of measures that he hopes will lead to the effective use of the UN in its role in international politics after the end of the Cold War. This included the use of preventive diplomacy, peace enforcement, peacemaking, maintaining consensus, and post-conflict reconstruction.
Wider mission objectives
In The UN Record of Unity Operations, Michael Doyle and Sambanis summarized Boutros Boutros' report as a measure of preventive diplomacy and confidence building. Participation in peacekeeping operations was relevant, as,for example, fact-finding missions, observer mandates, and the possibility of deploying the UN as a preventive measure in order to reduce the potential for or risk of violence and thereby increase the prospects for lasting peace.
