Keeping the peace: stories of Australian peacekeepers - problems and possibilities
"Of all the things a soldier may be asked to do, bringing peace to a troubled region is the most noble."
Husband of Major Susan Felsche, killed in Western Sahara on 21 June 1993
Peacekeeping has its problems. Operations are often too slow to get into the field, and arrive only in time to mop up after tragedy has struck. The quality of peacekeepers - their competence, training and discipline - varies greatly. There are problems of command in a multinational force, in which each national contingent remains answerable to its own government.
Often the problems are political. The United Nations can do no more than its member states allow, and are willing to pay for. Many people can die before the world community arrives at a consensus to act. The prevention of war seems as far off as ever.
Yet at the local level, the work that peacekeepers do remains immensely valuable. Whether they are maintaining a presence that reduces violence, lifting landmines, enrolling voters, training police, or simply reminding people that the world has not forgotten them, peacekeepers are helping.
They will not solve all problems, but they will touch people's lives for the better.
