Military realities of UN peacekeeping operations

Abstract

In this candid account of his experiences in the former Yugoslavia, Major General Lewis MacKenzie addresses the central issues of UN involvement in this war‐tom area, where not only do UN troops feel their hands are tied by the limits of the UN mandate, but they also experience open hostility from the very people they have been sent to protect, who feel betrayed by the failure of attempts to bring peace to the region. Indeed, argues MacKenzie, there is no peace to keep. The only effective way to move from ‘peacekeeping’ to the more accurate ‘humanitarian force’ role of the UN, now and in the future, is to use properly equipped and combat trained troops, who know how to deal with the pressures and tensions of this most difficult type of duty.