UN Peacekeeping Operations - Are They Still Needed? Current and Future Challenges

The eruption of many violent conflicts after the end of the Cold Warforced the “Blue Helmets” not only to conduct peace-keeping operations but also peace-enforcing, which are far more difficult and controversial. But is highly politicized organization without independent military capabilities and budget capable of undertaking such difficult but needed tasks? Many failures, such as those in Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now in Africa, shows that it is not. However, no other international organization does have such capabilities, as well as political and moral mandate to engage in conflict resolution. The main goal of this paper is to present and analyze an issue of UN peacekeeping operations – their evolution, current state and challenges, both current and future. This international tool was helpful many times – it helped to resolve countless violent conflicts and defuse many international and intra-state crises. However, in current turbulent and highly complex world the UN peacekeeping operations are in a deep crisis. Is there any way to revive them? In this article I will try to find an answer to the question of a future of UN peacekeeping operations as a tool of a conflict resolution.