ABSTRACT
Modern violence goes beyond the battlefield when a country uses armed forces to achieve its national security objectives in the contemporary environment. The language and dynamics of peacekeeping are useful for moving from a state of war to one where all formerly warring parties embrace peace as a better alternative. Development and state building are both controversial and problematic processes, concerns to which the discussion moves. The appeal was purely on humanitarian grounds: no major state has particular interests in Burundi, certainly none that rise to the level of vital interests. The contemporary demand for humanitarian activism comes in the form of something called the “Responsibility to Protect”. The peace enforcement phase is not only likely the longest stage in terms of physical duration, it is also the most stressful on the participants. The Afghanistan War once again provides an example of the difficulty of appropriate state building.
