Peacekeeping forces are normally deployed with the consent of the parties to a conflict and in support of a ceasefire or other agreed upon peace measures. Peace enforcement refers to the use of military assets to enforce a peace against the will of the parties to a conflict when, for instance, a ceasefire has failed.

Consent of the parties. UN peacekeeping operations are deployed with the consent of the main parties to the conflict.

For the purpose of this article peacekeeping is define as a military unit which stands between two opposing armies to enforce peace, while Peacemaking is an active military operation to achieve peace. Because of UNEF a peace was maintained between the parties involved.

Peacemaking. Peacemaking generally includes measures to address conflicts in progress and usually involves diplomatic action to bring hostile parties to a negotiated agreement. The UN Secretary-General may exercise his or her “good offices” to facilitate the resolution of the conflict.

The United Nations Peacekeeping efforts began in 1948. Its first activity was in the Middle East to observe and maintain the ceasefire during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Since then, United Nations peacekeepers have taken part in a total of 72 missions around the globe, 14 of which continue today.

As soon as security conditions permit, the Secretariat usually deploys a technical assessment mission to the country or territory where the deployment of a UN peace operation is envisaged. This report will present options for the establishment of a peace operation as appropriate including its size and resources.

(1) preventive diplomacy is action to prevent disputes from arising between the parties, to prevent existing disputes from escalating into conflicts and to limit the spread of the latter when they occur, (2) peacemaking is action to bring hostile parties to agreement, essentially through such peaceful means as those …

Current Peacekeeping Missions

• UNMIS (Sudan)
• ONUB (Burundi)
• UNOCI (C te d’Ivoire)
• UNMIL (Liberia)
• MONUC (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• UNMEE (Ethiopia and Eritrea)
• MINURSO (Western Sahara)

31 months
On average UN Peacekeeping mission lasts 31 months. Six missions have continued for longer than 26 missions, including: United Nation’s Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East (1948)

While UN peacekeeping operations are, in principle, deployed to support the implementation of a ceasefire or peace agreement, they are often required to play an active role in peacemaking efforts and may also be involved in early peacebuilding activities.

Peacekeeping is situated before peace enforcement and before the sanctions regime as seen in chapter VII of the UN Charter. Peacebuilding is more than a process that has a broad post-conflict agenda and more than an instrumentalist method to secure peace.

For general information on peacekeeping operations, please visit the official Department of Peacekeeping website.

Conflict prevention, peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace enforcement rarely occur in a linear or sequential way. Experience has shown that they should be seen as mutually reinforcing.