Why does the United Nation not have its own military forces to carry out its military action?
Answers
The UN has been deploying military personnel for service in peace operations since 1948 when the Security Council authorized the deployment of UN military observers to the Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours.
UN military personnel can be called upon to:
Protect civilians and UN personnel;
Monitor a disputed border;
Monitor and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas
Provide security across a conflict zone;
Provide security during elections;
Assist in-country military personnel with training and support
Assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements; they may have signed.
One of the biggest changes UN Peacekeeping has seen over the 70 years of its existence has been the increasingly multi-dimensional nature of UN peacekeeping operations. UN military peacekeepers are often deployed in inhospitable, remote and dangerous environments where they face an unprecedented scale of challenges especially when protecting civilians, under asymmetric threats. Read more about how UN Peacekeeping is evolving to handle these modern day challenges here.