Conceptual Framework and Some Background Issues

Abstract

There is controversy and a lack of consensus among scholars and practitioners about the theory and practice of peacekeeping. Although the concept of peacekeeping as a tool of managing international conflicts evolved in the early years of the UN, its application in the post-Cold War international arena has undergone many changes. Also, peacekeeping activities have been stretched to include many tasks that were not envisaged by its founders. The end of the Cold War and the new context of conflicts char-acterised by the shift from interstate wars to predominantly intrastate ones have occasioned the growing rate of deployment of an increasing number of UN peacekeeping missions across the globe. This new development attests to the international community’s commitment to dealing with threats to peace and security. Peacekeeping missions have increased in size, scope, and strategies with complex mandates. Contemporary peace operations have moved beyond the interposition of forces and ceasefire monitoring and observation to include an increasing number of non-military functions in such places as Cambodia and El Salvador. In spite of the metamorphosis in the nature and practice of peacekeeping, the UN peace operations have not been able to resolve some internal armed conflicts, especially in Africa, on an enduring basis, as with the deadly trilogy of Angola, Rwanda and Somalia in the 1990s.1