Peacekeeping and the United Nations

No United Nations action has received as much international attention in recent years as its attempts at peacekeeping. This book introduces the reader to the concept of peacekeeping through an analysis of its evolution over nearly fifty years of practice. Beginning with an explanation of the legal foundations, principles and nature of peacekeeping as it developed in the early post-war period, it continues to examine the transition from the limited peacekeeping efforts of the Cold War to the expanded activity of the immediate post-Cold War period, through to the international community's re-evaluation of the Organization's ability to bring peace to conflict ridden states in the mid-1990's. In so doing it examines every significant instance of UN peacekeeping, while focussing on the main themes of the rise and fall of international commitment to its practice. Also included in the text are suggestions for further reading whilst its appendices contain extracts from key peacekeeping documentation.