ABSTRACT
In May 1995, Danish-Norwegian Research Project invited key UN-led United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) personnel to a first UN Commanders' Workshop in Oslo to discuss the possibilities and limits of peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. The workshop took place at a critical phase of the UNPROFOR mission. This chapter describes discussion by leaders and key personnel of a UN peacekeeping force about their efforts to improve conditions for peace in an ongoing war, efforts 'guided' by a divided international community. The war in former Yugoslavia was fundamentally a civil war, mostly urban, and its participants employed large combined operational actions to terrorize the population. North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) military assets sought to achieve a military effect which normally entailed the destruction of a target. NATO's military commanders therefore tended to apply the principles of warfare, favouring surprise, offensive action and military efficiency.
