ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the debates surrounding peace support operations and stabilisation. In this chapter the authors look at the meaning of such operations, examine their requirements and chart the development in methods and doctrines designed to perform those tasks more effectively. It describes the development of peace operations, examining the peacekeeping heritage of the Cold War and developments thereafter. The chapter examines the emergence of doctrines of ‘stabilisation’, especially in the context of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It discusses some of the challenges in the execution of peace and stabilisation operations. ‘Globalization refers to a process – still ongoing –through which the world has in many respects been becoming single place’. In quantitative terms, the period from 1988 to 1993 saw an increase in the number of operations. In relation to unity of effort, modern peace operations are potentially very complex, involving a wide array of local, national and international actors, both military and civilian, governmental and non-governmental.
