Support and Limitations: Peacekeeping from the Point of View of Troop-Contributors

Abstract

We need at the outset to determine the specific character of UN peacekeeping operations. They differ from regular military operations in many important respects. They constitute a special kind of operation with unique characteristics. Most important, UN peacekeeping operations do not aim at imposing an external will on warring parties or civilian populations. Hence they are different from intervention by expeditionary forces. The great powers have often resorted to such intervention throughout history in order to protect or expand their own interests or in order to constrain those of their competitors or adversaries. States with a history of intervention or harbouring a colonial legacy may find it difficult to adjust to the non-interventionist nature of UN peacekeeping and, equally important, they may find it difficult to be accepted by the warring parties as disinterested intermediaries. Hence the small and medium powers have enjoyed a comparative advantage in regard to peacekeeping.