Fundamentals of traditional peacekeeping

Traditional peacekeeping refers to the practice of deploying neutral military and

civilian forces to conflict zones with the goal of maintaining or restoring peace. The
following fundamentals are applied to every peacekeeping mission such as consent,
impartiality, minimum use of force, credibility negotiation and mediation and so on. Consent
- UN peacekeeping operations are established with the consent and cooperation of the main
parties involved in a conflict. Impartiality - A UN force must be impartial in character. The
force cannot take sides without becoming part of the traditional conflict it has been mandated
to control and resolve. Minimun use of force - In peacekeeping operations, force will not be
used to carry out the mandate. Minimum use of force does not exclude self-defence of United
Nations personnel and property. The use of force must be clearly defined in the Rules of
Engagement (ROE). Keep in mind that consent may not be the norm in complex
peacekeeping. In fact, complex peacekeeping may not have consent from any party. In
addition, minimum use of force may also not be the case for complex peacekeeping - the
degree of force authorized will be provided by the mandate.