Journal of Defence Studies

An Appraisal of the UN and Its Peacekeeping Structure

Thanks to the Director General, MP-IDSA Amb. Chinoy, Col. Pillay, Dr Ruchita Beri and their team for providing the opportunity to share my views from an Indian viewpoint on the Appraisal of the UN’s Peacekeeping System and Mechanism.

Against All Odds: The Forgotten Tales of Independent India’s Tryst with Peacekeeping

There is a part of history that many in India are not familiar with today. This article is an account of Independent India’s first overseas mission under the UN – The unique role that the Indian military played in the Korean conflict.

India and UN Peacekeeping in Africa: An Assessment

Over the last seven decades, United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKOs) have helped several countries across the world to move away from the path of conflict. Africa has been a significant region for deployment of the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers, often known as ‘the blue helmets’. Out of the 12 ongoing UNPKOs, six are located in Africa.1 They include Western Sahara (MINURSO), Mali (MINUSMA), Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), Central African Republic (MINUSCA), South Sudan (UNMISS) and Abyei (UNISFA), a disputed border area between Sudan and South Sudan.

Nation-building: A Case for Armed Forces in Post-conflict Peacebuilding

Indian peacekeeping forces have served the cause of international peacekeeping for over 70 years and have logged not just an enviable record doing so, but have garnered a huge bank of institutional knowledge on post-conflict transitions. With the country on the cusp of becoming a power centre in the international comity of nations, it is imperative to recognise and utilise this knowledge for the armed forces to contribute to nation-building. The author argues for an enhanced role for the armed forces in post-intervention and fragile transition governance operations.

Four Decades of UNIFIL: Mandates, Contributions and Challenges

Established in 1978 with the objective of ensuring Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been a key factor in maintaining stability along the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon since then. There are divergent views on the achievements of the mission after more than four decades of its deployment.

India–US Peacekeeping Cooperation

Both India and the United States (US) have a long history of supporting the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UN PKOs). Over the last two decades, the two countries have significantly expanded cooperation in peacekeeping operations to advance the purposes and principles of UN peacekeeping. In this regard, India and US established a Joint Working Group (JWG) on PKOs to deepen cooperation on peacekeeping issues. They have partnered with African countries to build and enhance the capacity of African troops to help them effectively participate in the UN PKOs.

Uniformed Women in UN Peacekeeping Operations: An Assessment of India’s Contribution

The defect in the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 has occurred by viewing rationales for increasing uniformed women peacekeepers from the instrumentalist perspective. The slow rate of increase in uniformed women peacekeepers is not solely because of the low contribution by developing countries.

Multidimensional Peacekeeping Protection Mandate and Recalibration of the UN Military Peacekeepers

The United Nations has introduced a layered approach to UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) with wide-ranging enablers based on many reviews. Accordingly, a new resolution on the protection of civilians (POC) was adopted by the UN Security Council in 1999. The study attempts to understand the complexities of multidimensional PKOs, POC, 2019 policy, specific role of the UN military force and the need for new structuring and training of the UN military presence in the mission areas.

Assessment of India’s UN Missions and Impact on Host Nations

Multifunctional peace operations under the umbrella of United Nations (UN) have become an integral part of the global society to the extent that they are now one of the major regulating institutions of international relations.

Sino-Russian Cooperation and Competition in Central Asia

The Central Asian region with its five post-Soviet republics is geopolitically important for its proximity to Afghanistan, West Asia, China, Russia and the Caucasus. These republics have been wooed by many powers keen to gain access to their rich resources. Russia, the regional hegemon has been slipping in the economic domain, while China’s fortunes and national power are on the rise. This article seeks to examine the standing of these two powers that are both cooperating and competing in Central Asia and suggest the way ahead for India