\n<\/p>\n
Peacekeepers have frequently failed to prevent wars, or have even become targets themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Peacekeeping forces tend to have more symbolic power than firepower.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Ukraine’s best chance is European mechanized brigades with a clear mandate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
As Europe mulls dispatching peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, the history of peacekeeping missions suggests the effort is far from a sure-bet. Peacekeepers have frequently failed to prevent wars, or have even become targets themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n Peacekeeping is usually associated with the UN, which first sent military observers to the Middle East in 1948 to monitor the armistice after the <\/span>1948 Arab-Israeli War<\/span><\/a>, and today has <\/span>72,000 peacekeepers<\/span><\/a> in 11 conflict zones. Russian peacekeepers served alongside NATO troops in <\/span>Bosnia<\/span><\/a>, and unsuccessfully acted as a buffer between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.<\/span><\/p>\n The African Union has also deployed forces from South Africa and African states in regional conflicts. For poorer nations, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, volunteering their soldiers for relatively well-paid UN peacekeeping has become a <\/span>source of revenue<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n The idea of using European troops to maintain a shaky peace between Ukraine and Russia immediately runs into a definitional problem. Would they be there to keep the peace, or to protect Ukraine? Peacekeepers are typically supposed to be neutral and act primarily as monitors. Indeed, the UN lists <\/span>four basic principles of peacekeeping<\/span><\/a>: impartiality, consent of the warring parties, and not using force except in self-defense.<\/span><\/p>\n Accusations of bias against peacekeepers are not uncommon. Israel, for example, has long accused the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of ignoring <\/span>Hezbollah activities<\/span><\/a> along the Israel-Lebanon border, which led to Israeli troops <\/span>entering<\/span><\/a> Lebanon in October.<\/span><\/p>\n But a European peacekeeping mission would be problematic. Even though the proposed peacekeeping force in Ukraine would be under European rather than NATO auspices, the troops would come from NATO or NATO-friendly nations. It is hard to believe that Russia would see it as anything other than a permanent Western expeditionary force to defend Ukraine against another Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n