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The Un Peacekeeping System Today: A Working Tool or An Incomplete Mechanism
Subject area: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities · Area of research: International Relations
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I7-1713846
Abstract
This article interrogates whether the contemporary United Nations peacekeeping system functions as an effective instrument of international security governance or remains an institutionally constrained and politically incomplete mechanism. Situating the analysis within International Relations debates on collective security, multilateral legitimacy, and conflict management, the study traces the evolution of UN peacekeeping from traditional inter-state monitoring operations to multidimensional and robust mandates operating in intrastate and asymmetric conflict environments. Employing a qualitative research design based on systematic analysis of secondary sources, including UN reports, Security Council resolutions, policy reviews, and peer-reviewed scholarship, the article adopts a dual-model analytical framework that contrasts peacekeeping as a working tool against peacekeeping as an incomplete mechanism. Empirical case studies drawn from Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Mali, and Cyprus demonstrate that UN peacekeeping can significantly reduce violence, protect civilians, and stabilize post-conflict transitions when mandates are clear, resources adequate, and political consent sustained. At the same time, the findings reveal persistent structural deficits, mandate–capability gaps, financial precarity, host-state dependence, and Security Council paralysis, that undermine operational effectiveness in high-threat environments. The analysis further highlights the normative and practical tension between consent-based peacekeeping and expectations of peace enforcement in conflicts involving non-state armed actors. By integrating empirical evidence with institutional analysis, the article contributes to IR scholarship by moving beyond binary success–failure assessments and reframing UN peacekeeping as a contingent governance mechanism whose performance is shaped by global power politics, bureaucratic design, and evolving security realities. The study offers policy-relevant insights into how technological innovation, Security Council reform, and regional hybrid arrangements could recalibrate peacekeeping for a multipolar order. In doing so, it provides a grounded assessment of what UN peacekeeping realistically delivers and why its reform remains central to the future of multilateral conflict management.
Keywords
United Nations Peacekeeping; International Security Governance; Collective Security; Multidimensional Peace Operations; Civilian Protection; Peace Enforcement Dilemma; Security Council Politics; Multilateral legitimacy.
References
[1] Roberts, A., & Kingsbury, B. (1993). United Nations, Divided World: The UN’s Roles in International Relations. Oxford University Press.
[2] Higgins, R. (1995). United Nations Peacekeeping, 1948–1994. Clarendon Press.
[3] United Nations. (2008). Principles of UN Peacekeeping. Department of Peace Operations.
[4] United Nations. (2000). Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (Brahimi Report).
[5] Hegre, H., Hultman, L., & Mokleiv Nygård, H. (2017). Peacekeeping works: Evaluating the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations (Conflict Trends No. 6). Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Retrieved from https://www.prio.org/publications/10806
[6] United Nations. (n.d.). Mandates and the legal basis for peacekeeping. United Nations Peacekeeping. https://peacekeeping.un.org
[7] United Nations Security Council. (2011). Resolution 1996 (2011) [on the situation in South Sudan]. United Nations; United Nations Security Council. (2014). Resolution 2149 (2014) [on the situation in the Central African Republic]. United Nations.
[8] Panel on United Nations Peace Operations. (2000). Report of the Panel on United Nations peace operations (A/55/305–S/2000/809). United Nations.
[9] United Nations. (2018). Lessons identified from the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
[10] Benner T. Mergenthaler S. & Rotmann P. (2011). The evolution of organizational learning in the UN peace operations bureaucracy. German Development Institute.
[11] Howard L. M. (2019). Power in peacekeeping. Cambridge University Press.
[12] United Nations Secretary-General. (2024). Note on the financial situation of the United Nations. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/financial-resources
[13] Karlsrud J. (2015). The UN at war: Examining the consequences of peace-enforcement mandates for the UN peacekeeping operations in the CAR the DRC and Mali. Third World Quarterly 36(1) 40–54.
[14] Benner T. Mergenthaler S. & Rotmann P. (2011). The evolution of organizational learning in the UN peace operations bureaucracy. German Development Institute.
How to cite this paper
@article{1713846,
author = {Hinmikaiye Peace Timi},
title = {The Un Peacekeeping System Today: A Working Tool or An Incomplete Mechanism},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {7},
pages = {2317-2323},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1713846.pdf},
abstract = {This article interrogates whether the contemporary United Nations peacekeeping system functions as an effective instrument of international security governance or remains an institutionally constrained and politically incomplete mechanism. Situating the analysis within International Relations debates on collective security, multilateral legitimacy, and conflict management, the study traces the evolution of UN peacekeeping from traditional inter-state monitoring operations to multidimensional and robust mandates operating in intrastate and asymmetric conflict environments. Employing a qualitative research design based on systematic analysis of secondary sources, including UN reports, Security Council resolutions, policy reviews, and peer-reviewed scholarship, the article adopts a dual-model analytical framework that contrasts peacekeeping as a working tool against peacekeeping as an incomplete mechanism. Empirical case studies drawn from Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Mali, and Cyprus demonstrate that UN peacekeeping can significantly reduce violence, protect civilians, and stabilize post-conflict transitions when mandates are clear, resources adequate, and political consent sustained. At the same time, the findings reveal persistent structural deficits, mandate–capability gaps, financial precarity, host-state dependence, and Security Council paralysis, that undermine operational effectiveness in high-threat environments. The analysis further highlights the normative and practical tension between consent-based peacekeeping and expectations of peace enforcement in conflicts involving non-state armed actors. By integrating empirical evidence with institutional analysis, the article contributes to IR scholarship by moving beyond binary success–failure assessments and reframing UN peacekeeping as a contingent governance mechanism whose performance is shaped by global power politics, bureaucratic design, and evolving security realities. The study offers policy-relevant insights into how technological innovation, Security Council reform, and regional hybrid arrangements could recalibrate peacekeeping for a multipolar order. In doing so, it provides a grounded assessment of what UN peacekeeping realistically delivers and why its reform remains central to the future of multilateral conflict management.},
keywords = {United Nations Peacekeeping; International Security Governance; Collective Security; Multidimensional Peace Operations; Civilian Protection; Peace Enforcement Dilemma; Security Council Politics; Multilateral legitimacy.},
month = {January},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I7-1713846}
}