ABSTRACT
Few processes in contemporary international relations have been as imperfectly defined as that of ‘peacekeeping’. This is not primarily the result of intellectual laziness on the part of practitioners and commentators. Virtually everyone has a personal sense of what peacekeeping is — but it is usually perceived as an activity with extremely flexible boundaries. Defining peacekeeping is complicated still further by the frequent use of the term for political purposes. The word peacekeeping has been employed to describe a huge range of military and quasi-military activities, often in an attempt to legitimize undertakings with less than laudable motivations using less than pacific methods. As one author has put it:
scholars try to use definitions and categories with precision, states are under no such professional obligation… The term ‘peacekeeping’ has a very favourable resonance, so that states are glad to use it in their statements and rhetoric in circumstances where, at least superficially, it will look appropriate. It is a way of trying to engender positive feelings, and hence support, for their policies. 1
