Journal of Defence Studies

Understanding the Perspective of Women in UN Peacekeeping Missions

Women in conflict throughout the world are taking significant risks to contribute to peace and security and their participation in peacekeeping operations has enhanced their role in peacebuilding and defending the rights of women. Women peacekeepers have proven themselves equal of their male counterparts in the execution of jobs under tough circumstances in all disciplines of peacekeeping.

Regulating the Use of Force by United Nations Peace Support Operations: Balancing Promises and Outcomes by Charuka Ekanayake

The United Nations Peace Support Operations (PSOs), originally envisaged for simple missions like monitoring ceasefires and facilitating negotiations during international armed conflicts, underwent a massive transformation after the end of the Cold War when the UN found itself involved in complex military operations embedded in violent intra-state conflicts. As civilians are increasingly subjected to brutality and atrocity in such conflicts, the use of force by the UN has become necessary for fulfilling its mandate for Protection of Civilians (POC) and Responsible to Protect (R2P).

War and Peace: Chinese Blue Helmets for National Interests?: South Sudan as a Case Study

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was accepted into United Nations (UN) on 25 June 1971, replacing the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, who fled to the island of Taiwan in 1949. Chiang’s Republic of China had been among the founding members of the UN. Being one of the five permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council (UNSC) with veto rights, China is presently the second largest fund contributor after the United States (US).

Air Power in UN Peacekeeping

Air power has made its presence felt ever since the Wright Flyer took to the air in 1903. The air domain, over the years and in all conflicts, has established itself as a pivotal tool in the hands of the politician and of course, the military exponent. Its attributes of speed, reach, mobility and flexibility along with the ability to be employed in a logistics, humanitarian and/or an offensive role positions it as an ideal tool to be used in all aspects of peace operations. Indeed, India has been at the forefront of such missions for bringing-in peace in troubled lands far and wide.

An Analysis of the Future of United Nations Peacekeeping and India’s Continued Participation

As it evolved over the years, UN peacekeeping became an extraordinary art that called for the use of the military personnel not to wage war but to prevent fighting between belligerents. To ensure the maintenance of cease-fires, and to provide a measure of stability in an area of conflict while negotiations were conducted. To that extent, it is important to distinguish between the concept of ‘collective security’ and peacekeeping in the international environment.

UN Peacekeeping Operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Lessons Learnt and the Future of UN Peacekeeping

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has seen conflict and violence ever since its independence, for varied reasons. The main causes are its abundant and ill-managed natural resources, lack of institutions, ethnic issues, lack of state authority and undisciplined and ill-trained national security forces.

India and the United Nations: Past and Future

The subject of today’s discussion is peacekeeping but you have asked me to speak on a much broader plane about the past and future of the United Nations. Last year marked a hundred years of multilateralism. The founding of the League of Nations in January 1920 to maintain peace and foster international cooperation represented the first real institutionalization of multilateralism.

India’s Role in UN Peacekeeping Operations

The basic role of the armed forces is to defend the country against external aggression and to protect it from internal threat when its ‘national security’ is jeopardised. Apart from carrying out these functions, in the seven decades of independence, the Indian Armed Forces have been actively participating in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations.

An Experience in Military Leadership as a Sector Commander in UN Mission in South Sudan

South Sudan gained its independence on 9 July 2011, after an overwhelming referendum held in January 2011 and became the youngest country of the world.

Peacekeeping in Lebanon: Reminiscences of the First Indian Battalion Group Commander

This couplet from an old Iranian poem, inscribed at the entrance gate of United Nations (UN) Headquarters (HQ), conveys a message signifying the purpose of the UN. The principal aim of the UN is to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, including actions for suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of peace. The UN peacekeeping attempts to help countries navigate the difficult path from conflict to peace.