Abstract
Current peace support operations present problems which are too ambitious for a UN civilian police mission (referred to here as CIVPOL), such as IPTF in Bosnia, to tackle but which are not appropriate for the military. However, CIVPOL appears to fulfil a need in spite of its weaknesses. Recently an attempt to further discussion on how CIVPOL might be strengthened was made by the Secretary‐General of NATO who called for a permanent global gendarmerie to solve the existing policy and practical inadequacies of such operations. It is unlikely that this would be achieved because strengthening CIVPOL through the establishment of a gendarmerie will not solve any policing problems, and would raise two fundamental issues. First, it is difficult to see the present organization remodelling itself into a capable monitoring or training organization for creating state policing on liberal democratic lines. Second, it is most unlikely that a gendarmerie could solve the problems or fulfil the requirements of existing CIVPOL. The CIVPOL mandate is complex and is yet to identify realistic goals for itself, but a permanent UN‐based gendarmerie is not the answer to what is essentially a policy vacuum.
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