From Camouflage Helmets to Blue Berets-Planning the Transition From Peace Enforcement to Peacekeeping.

Abstract

Abstract : This monograph examines the transition from peace enforcement to peacekeeping operations. Since the beginning of the post Cold War era, the number of United Nations peace operations has risen dramatically. Unlike most peace operations of the Cold War, these actions have been characterized by intra-state conflict, the availability of large quantities of modern weapons and ethnic tensions. As a result, the U.N. has bad to initiate heavily armed peace enforcement and peacekeeping operations to achieve diplomatic objectives. The study first defines peace enforcement and peacekeeping based on current U.S. Army definitions. The monograph then reviews the need for establishing disengagement criteria as part of mission planning. The environment, mandate, planning and disengagement criteria in Somalia 1991-92 and similar peace operations are analyzed to determine the need for developing an effective means for the transition from peace enforcement to peacekeeping peace operations. The monograph concludes that choosing when to commit U.S. forces to peace operations is as important as when and how to disengage them. The study provides general disengagement considerations for planning the transition from peace enforcement to peacekeeping. The successful transition from peace enforcement to peacekeeping is a critical indicator of potential mission accomplishment in future intra-state conflicts.