| Summary: | This volume explores the evolution of peacekeeping, particularly since the early 1990s. This period was characterized by much initial enthusiasm and hopes for a United Nations that would find a more agreeable international environment for effective and sustained operations to secure peace where it existed, and to provide peace where it did not. Peacekeeping has always been one of the most visible symbols of the UN role in international peace and security. And it was disappointment with the performance of UN peacekeeping operations which was to become symbolic of the UN's failure to emerge from the ashes of the Cold War as a rejuvenated key player in international and, increasingly, internal peace and security. United Nations Peacekeeping Operations reflects some of the thinking, some of the experiences in the UN and in the field, some of the frustrations, and some of the hopes of this past decade. It combines academic analysis, field experience, and reflection with forward-looking proposals (including the suggestions of, and responses to, the recent Brahimi Report) for more effective peace operations designed and deployed by the UN in partnership with regional, subregional, and local actors. The various chapters in this book confirm the reality of differences among academics, international civil servants, and generals in their respective cultures of reflection, introspection, and analysis. The first part of the book outlines the challenges of post-Cold War peacekeeping; the second part sheds light on regional experiences of peacekeeping missions, with an emphasis on the post-Soviet region and Africa. In the third part practitioners with extensive field experience share their specific experiences in Cambodia, former Yugoslavia, and East Timor. Part four takes stock of the recent record of UN peacekeeping, and of the UN's own attempt to analyze, evaluate, and reform its performance in peace operations.
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