UN Peacekeeping Operations: Criticisms and Reform Efforts
This paper provides an overview of the United Nations Security Council and the UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO), tracing their origins to 1948 and examining the institutional structure that governs them. It identifies three major criticisms that have persistently challenged the UNPKO: the rise of prostitution and human trafficking in peacekeeping zones, the vulnerability of peacekeeping personnel to harm, and organizational inefficiency illustrated by failures in Rwanda and Bosnia. The paper also surveys the current scale of UN peacekeeping missions, budget shortfalls, and the narrow mandates given to troops. Finally, it reviews international reform efforts — including the Brahimi Report, the UN Peacebuilding Commission, and the growing role of NATO and the EU — and concludes that human trafficking, funding gaps, and troop safety remain urgent unresolved concerns.
- Overview of the United Nations Security Council: Structure, purpose, and P-5 veto powers
- Origins and Structure of UN Peacekeeping Operations: UNPKO founding, DPKO, troop and funding contributions
- Major Criticisms of the UNPKO: Peacekeeper safety, trafficking, and efficiency failures
- Current State of UN Peacekeeping Missions: Mission scale, fatalities, budget shortfalls, narrow mandates
- International Responses and Reform Efforts: Brahimi Report, Peacebuilding Commission, EU and NATO roles
- Conclusion: Unresolved issues threatening UN reputation
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its critique in concrete historical failures — Rwanda (1994) and Bosnia (1995) — giving the argument specificity rather than relying on vague generalizations.
- It balances descriptive context (how the Security Council and DPKO are structured) with evaluative analysis (why those structures produce inefficiencies), creating a coherent argumentative arc.
- The inclusion of funding figures, troop contributor statistics, and fatality data adds quantitative support that strengthens the credibility of each criticism raised.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates systematic problem-solution structuring: each criticism is introduced, supported with evidence or examples, and then linked to an existing or proposed reform. This approach shows readers not only what is wrong but also what the international community has attempted to do about it, and where those attempts fall short.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a descriptive overview of the Security Council and its permanent members, then transitions to a historical background on UNPKO. Three core criticisms are developed in sequence, followed by a current-situation section that updates the reader on mission scale and ongoing concerns. An international-action section surveys reform mechanisms, and a conclusion synthesizes the key unresolved issues. This six-part structure moves logically from description to analysis to evaluation.
Overview of the United Nations Security Council
The United Nations (UN) has a Security Council that consists of 15 members. The primary purpose of this council is to resolve issues and conflicts in order to maintain peace among the nations of the world. This council was initiated in 1946, at a time when the League of Nations had failed. The main reason attributed to that failure is that the League did not have sufficient influence over its members to compel them to adopt resolutions. The UN Security Council, by contrast, not only works to resolve conflicts and other issues as they arise, but also creates sanctions, issues binding resolutions, and dispatches peacekeeping personnel, among other functions.
Among all the bodies of the UN, the Security Council is usually the first to attempt to resolve conflicts, with the aim of addressing them even before they fully develop. For this reason, it is important for member states to have a representative available at all times during sessions.
Out of the 15 members on the Security Council, 5 are permanent. These members represent the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the People's Republic of China, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and France. These five permanent members are also known as the P-5. They hold considerable power, including the right to veto any resolution put forward by the UN. The remaining 10 members serve two-year terms; at the time of writing they represented Morocco, Colombia, India, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Pakistan, Germany, Portugal, Guatemala, and Togo.
Origins and Structure of UN Peacekeeping Operations
The Security Council was established in 1948 in connection with the creation of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. It is the duty of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) to help countries transition from early-stage conflicts to lasting peace by providing essential peacebuilding, political, and security support (UN Peacekeeping, 2011a).
At the time of writing, the UNPKO was maintaining 16 missions across 4 continents, including operations in Kosovo, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Haiti (UN Peacekeeping, 2011b). In order to protect civilians, promote human rights, and facilitate electoral processes, the Blue Berets — commonly known as Peacekeepers — are deployed to these areas.
Although the UNPKO won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 and continues to function as an institution, it has remained subject to ongoing criticism and calls for reform. Three major areas of concern have driven this criticism: a rise in prostitution and human trafficking in peacekeeping zones, the potential of peacekeeping troops to cause harm, and questions about the overall efficiency of the organization.
It was in 1948 that UN Peacekeeping Operations emerged as a global phenomenon, with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization serving as the first peacekeeping mission. That organization was created primarily to help resolve conflicts that might arise in Israel, which was a newly formed state at the time. The United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was established in 1949. It is the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) that unites all these organizations. While the Security Council holds ultimate authority over them, the DPKO oversees their day-to-day activities under the leadership of the Secretary-General.
The United Nations Charter asks member states to contribute their security and armed forces to implement and support peacekeeping efforts. To date, approximately 130 countries have provided forces to the UN (Contributions to UN, 2011a). Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and India are among the top contributors (Contributions to UN, 2011b).
UN peacekeeping is also funded by member states. Under Article 17 of the UN Charter, all member states are required to provide financial contributions. Unlike the largest troop contributors, the largest financial contributors are the United States, Germany, Japan, France, and the United Kingdom. Looking at the funding history over the preceding five fiscal years, the U.S. contributed approximately 27% of total peacekeeping funds (Financing Peacekeeping, 2011).
Major Criticisms of the UNPKO
Almost since its establishment, the UNPKO has faced criticism. Peacekeepers are typically deployed to precarious locations, and there is a real risk of injury or death in conflict zones. It has been clearly stipulated that peacekeepers must not be harmed, yet some organizations have not complied with this requirement. This problem must be taken seriously, because if it persists, member states may become reluctant to contribute troops out of concern for their personnel's safety.
A further criticism concerns the increase in prostitution and human trafficking in peacekeeping areas. Evidence suggests that these illegal activities have risen in regions where peacekeeping troops have been deployed. This does not necessarily mean that UN peacekeepers are directly responsible — though accusations have been made — but it does indicate that the organization has not been effective in controlling these activities (UN Resolution, 1996).
It was in the 1990s that serious questions about the UNPKO's efficiency first came to the fore. The two most significant failures were Rwanda in 1994 and Bosnia in 1995. During these two crises, approximately one-third of all UN peacekeeping fatalities occurred. Massive killings, widespread destruction, and severe human rights abuses took place, leading observers to question both the capability and the will of the organization to prevent such atrocities.
Conclusion
The UN is an organization more than 60 years old; however, even with all the experience and knowledge it has accumulated, criticisms against its various bodies have continuously been increasing. As discussed above, the most pressing issue driving criticism is that of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, which the UN must address as a matter of urgency. A second major concern is the provision of adequate funding for missions, which affects not only the organization's public standing but its operational effectiveness as well.
It is the duty of the Security Council to ensure that the UNPKO operates efficiently and that the issues generating criticism are addressed in a meaningful way. The safety of armed troops contributed by member states is another concern that requires urgent attention. These are challenges that have undermined the UN's reputation for many years, and they must be resolved before further damage is done to the organization's credibility and its ability to fulfill its mandate.
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