The fog of UN Peacekeeping: Ethical Issues regarding the use of Force to protect Civilians in UN Operations

Abstract

Until the end of the twentieth century, UN peacekeepers were often prohibited from using force outside self-defense. With the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica in the back of their minds, UN officials have recently changed this policy. At present, peacekeepers in the Congo, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Haiti are explicitly authorized to use force to protect civilians. The new policy is essential in preventing new debacles but it raises a number of ethical questions for peacekeepers. Should the peacekeeper concentrate on the protection of the individual if such protection jeopardizes the community or the mission? Should the peacekeeper solely think in terms of rights and duties, or should he or she also consider consequences? How to deal with the issue of moral engagement versus self-control? Peacekeepers need direction to answer these ethical questions. Unfortunately, conventional locations for finding ethical direction do not provide the guidance that peacekeepers seek. Consequently, peacekeepers will often encounter situations of moral confusion which this article defines as ‘the fog of UN peacekeeping’. The article explains the fog of UN peacekeeping by showing how traditional guidelines fail to provide ethical direction in current peacekeeping operations. Despite the absence of ethical guidelines, soldiers need to prepare for the ‘fog of peacekeeping’. An approach for an adequate preparation in the existing ethical vacuum is offered at the end of the article.