Successful Peacekeeping by Regional Organizations: Necessarily Hybrid

Summary/Abstract: The end of the Cold War not only increased the need for peacekeeping operations but also changed their parameters. The United Nations’ role as the major international peacekeeping actor did not change but it brought a new trend: regional peacekeeping. This new trend reflected the localization of international relations relying on the combined effort of the United Nations and regional organizations to solve post-Cold War conflicts. Regional organizations lacked sufficient capability to carry out entire operations (thereby leaning on the UN), while the UN, for its part, found the legitimacy of its peacekeeping missions reinforced by the local awareness and operability of regional organizations. The change required more than the simple merging of regional organizations’ efforts with the United Nations. This study analyses a number of regional peacekeeping cases to illustrate the requirements needed for successful regional peacekeeping operations today. These include clear (and workable) mandates, international legitimacy, sufficient military capability, cohesiveness within the organization, suitable organizational structure, and cooperation with the United Nations. This study argues that in the post Cold War era, neither the UN nor regional organizations have sufficient capabilities alone to ensure successful peacekeeping missions, and that without the support of the UN, regional organizations cannot – yet – be accepted as sole actors in regional peacekeeping missions. Without strengthening the requirements listed above to improve regional organizations’ legal, political and military capabilities, and without re-evaluating the modes of cooperation between regional organizations and the United Nations, the inadequacies of regional peacekeeping cannot be easily overcome.

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