ABSTRACT

During the Cold War, peace support operations (PSOs) were very limited in both numbers and scope, mostly because decision-making at the UN Security Council (UNSC) was severely constrained due to superpower rivalry. PSOs primarily consisted of the interposition of lightly-armed forces between parties to a conflict. Their limitation in scope was due to very restrictive rules of engagement, based on the peacekeeping principles of impartiality, neutrality and non-use of force. PSOs became more frequent after the end of the Cold War and the number of instances of UN involvement in conflicts increased substantially. Since 1945, there have been 54 multinational PSOs under UN mandate, with no less than 35 of these having been authorised by the Security Council between 1990 and 2000. 1 The UN is currently undertaking some 15 PSOs, involving 45,145 military personnel and civilian police (plus international staff and local personnel), 87 contributing countries and a budget of 2.77 billion dollars (United Nations, 2002).