Peacekeeping Operations: Global Patterns of Intervention and Success, 1948-2004

Abstract

To what extent have the United Nations (UN) and regional actors attempted to manage disputes through peacekeeping operations? Has peacekeeping become regionalized? Which actor has historically been more successful? Questions like these are topical and carry large policy implications for the present debate on peacekeeping operations. Building on recently compiled data, this report offers a descriptive account and bird’s-eye view of global peacekeeping 1948–2004. It puts today’s pattern of peacekeeping in perspective and compares peacekeeping in different organizational frameworks - within and outside the UN. Focusing on deployment in terms of number, size, location, and type of conflict, it identifies trends. This reveals in turn similarities as well as differences between peacekeeping operations carried out by the UN and those conducted by non-UN actors. This report also summarizes available evidence on success rates and offers some conclusions on the significance of the organizational framework for international action.