ABSTRACT
Peacekeeping is a security concept that only dates back to the mid-twentieth century. However, the Cold War dominated the international scene during the 45 years that followed the invention of the concept. Because of the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, the UN Security Council was not able to exercise the important role it was assigned in international peacekeeping. UN peacekeeping was only able to demonstrate its existence after the Soviet Union collapse and the end of the Communist era. Iraq’s attack on Kuwait in 1990 created the opportunity for UN peacekeeping to finally demonstrate its important role in international security. UN Member States agreed to intervene multilaterally through peacekeeping in order to stop this breach to international peace, and Iraq was punished for infringement of human rights through the means of trade, economic and financial sanctions. UN peacekeeping reached its apogee with the Iraqi–Kuwaiti War.
