Peacekeeping: Successes, Failures, and R2P

UN peacekeeping is not explicitly provided for in the Charter; Dag Hammarskjöld reportedly described it as falling under an improvised "Chapter Six and a Half," between the pacific settlement provisions of Chapter VI and the enforcement powers of Chapter VII. The first UN observer mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization, was deployed to the Middle East in 1948, while the first armed peacekeeping force, the UN Emergency Force, was created in 1956 to oversee the withdrawal of British, French, and Israeli troops after the Suez Crisis, an initiative for which Canadian diplomat Lester Pearson received the Nobel Peace Prize. Peacekeeping evolved considerably after the Cold War, moving from lightly armed missions that monitored ceasefires between consenting states toward multidimensional operations tasked with organizing elections, disarming and reintegrating combatants, and helping rebuild the rule of law.