Peacekeeping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Peacekeeping - Essay Example Many countries, including the United States and others have had a hand in peacekeeping missions. The United Nations would be the guiding force for such peacekeeping missions in an effort to foster democratic peace worldwide. Operational law should be the governing force behind Peacekeeping Operations. One very important aspect of peacekeeping operations would be obtaining a clarified definition of the specific peacekeeping mission. A Peacekeeping Operation can often be described as any unilateral or multilateral intervention into the civil affairs of a foreign country designed to give a more secure and stable atmosphere, support constitutional processes, provide protection for citizens and facilitate repatriation processes for refugees. Peacekeeping operations also facilitate the capacity toward supporting provisional or interim governments and setting the stage for arrival of multinational forces. In this paper the first section deals with the various types of peacekeeping missions, the second section defines the term 'peacekeeping' and third section would specify the nature, cause and importance of local knowledge to the success of peacekeeping operations followed by a conclusion where the entire topic is summed up. There in fact would be several different kinds of Peacekeeping Operati... Current peacekeeping missions include UNTSO in the Middle East, UNDOF in Golan Heights, UNIFIL in Lebanon, which are all in the Middle East. UNFICYP is in Cyprus, UNOMIG is in Georgia and UNMIK is in Kosovo and are considered European operations. UNMOGIP is in India-Pakistan, and MINUSTAH is in Haiti. All these are current peacekeeping operations. The completed missions of peacekeeping operations are as follows. UNTAET from East Timor, UNIKOM from Iraq-Kuwait, UNMOP from Croatia, UNMIBH from Bosnia Herzegovina. This information was found on the Bureau of International Organization Affairs website and updated as of 2006. Within each of these missions a framework of operations would have been either loosely or strictly adhered to. It would be the adaptation of these frameworks that would be of utmost importance. The frameworks allow for a further and better understanding of the locality involved in the peacekeeping mission. Research is done to ensure that the framework would contain enough capacity for upholding the entire peacekeeping mission. Sorenson and Wood (2004) in The Politics of Peacekeeping in the Post-Cold War Era written in 2004 wrote that when questioning the scope of a particular peacekeeping mission, decisions as to the feasibility for continuation of the peacekeeping mission should be considered. Scope and duration have become an issue in peacekeeping missions as a result (Sorenson and Wood, 2004: 129). This is where consideration for the actors in the decision-making process for peacekeeping operations would fall into place. Lawmakers amidst other government officials would quite often have some say in feasibility of peacekeeping missions along with duration and the number of forces to be included in the mission.