Peacekeeper troops deployed in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei patrol Abeyi state, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan. Albert Gonzalez Farran/AFP via Getty Images.
In this free resource on the successes and failures of peacekeeping, learn about the UN missions tasked with transitioning countries out of war.
The world lacks a global police force capable of stopping violence in its tracks. However, it does have UN peacekeepers, who can help wind down conflicts and prevent them from recurring.
Take the case of El Salvador. Amid inequality, repression, and political violence, the country descended into in 1980. The conflict consumed the Central American nation for more than a decade. During the civil war, at least seventy-five thousand people were killed; a million more were displaced.
Despite the United Nations’ commitment to global peace and security, it refrained from direct intervention. This was due to the organization’s abiding respect for —the principle that countries get to control what happens within their borders. As a result, the United Nations did not involve itself in El Salvador’s internal affairs.
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To learn more about R2P, check out The Rise and Fall of the Responsibility to Protect.