Peace enforcement
Encyclopedia
Peace enforcement is a practice of ensuring peace in an area or region. Part of a three part scale between peacekeeping
and peacemaking
, it is sometimes considered to be the midpoint. Peace enforcement is different from peacemaking
where options, possibly including force, are used to bring conflicting parties to negotiations. While it is an approach to maintaining an existing peace, and can thus only be done by an outside party which is recognized as neutral, this is differentiated from peacekeeping largely in the level of force the outside group is willing to use in response to violations of the established peace.
The difference between peace enforcement and peacekeeping:
Peacekeeping, a role the U.N.
has played over the years, is relatively straightforward and,
despite its difficulties, comparatively easy. Peacekeeping
involves monitoring and enforcing a cease-fire agreed to by two
or more former combatants. It proceeds in an atmosphere where
peace exists and where the former combatants minimally prefer
peace to continued war.
Peace-enforcement, as it is used by the Joint Staff, entails
the physical interposition of armed forces to separate ongoing
combatants to create a cease-fire that does not exist.
Boutros-Ghali, on the other hand, uses the term to refer to
actions to keep a cease-fire from being violated or to reinstate
a failed cease-fire.
It is a subtle difference, but it does
imply the existence of some will for peace. The American version
more realistically portrays another, far more difficult matter.
By definition, in a situation for which peace-enforcement is a
potentially appropriate response, war and not peace describes the
situation, and one or more of the combatants prefer it that way.
This means that, unlike peacekeepers, peace enforcers are often
not welcomed by one or either side(s). Rather, they are active
fighters who must impose a cease-fire that is opposed by one or
both combatants; in the process, the neutrality that
distinguishes peacekeepers will most likely be lost.(For more information, refer to the Reference List.)
Peace enforcement has largely been avoided in the past. The level of violence encountered by peacekeeping operations in some areas (such as the 1994 events
in Rwanda
, where several Belgian soldiers were forced to watch the ongoing massacres and were ultimately killed themselves without being allowed to engage) has shocked the international community and led to unwillingness on the part of nations not otherwise involved to enter peacekeeping operations in potentially "hot" conflicts unless they have the ability to use force if necessary.
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
and peacemaking
Peacemaking
Peacemaking is a form of conflict resolution which focuses on establishing equal power relationships that will be robust enough to forestall future conflict, and establishing some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that has previously had conflict. In order to do so there...
, it is sometimes considered to be the midpoint. Peace enforcement is different from peacemaking
Peacemaking
Peacemaking is a form of conflict resolution which focuses on establishing equal power relationships that will be robust enough to forestall future conflict, and establishing some means of agreeing on ethical decisions within a community that has previously had conflict. In order to do so there...
where options, possibly including force, are used to bring conflicting parties to negotiations. While it is an approach to maintaining an existing peace, and can thus only be done by an outside party which is recognized as neutral, this is differentiated from peacekeeping largely in the level of force the outside group is willing to use in response to violations of the established peace.
The difference between peace enforcement and peacekeeping:
Peacekeeping, a role the U.N.
has played over the years, is relatively straightforward and,
despite its difficulties, comparatively easy. Peacekeeping
involves monitoring and enforcing a cease-fire agreed to by two
or more former combatants. It proceeds in an atmosphere where
peace exists and where the former combatants minimally prefer
peace to continued war.
Peace-enforcement, as it is used by the Joint Staff, entails
the physical interposition of armed forces to separate ongoing
combatants to create a cease-fire that does not exist.
Boutros-Ghali, on the other hand, uses the term to refer to
actions to keep a cease-fire from being violated or to reinstate
a failed cease-fire.
It is a subtle difference, but it does
imply the existence of some will for peace. The American version
more realistically portrays another, far more difficult matter.
By definition, in a situation for which peace-enforcement is a
potentially appropriate response, war and not peace describes the
situation, and one or more of the combatants prefer it that way.
This means that, unlike peacekeepers, peace enforcers are often
not welcomed by one or either side(s). Rather, they are active
fighters who must impose a cease-fire that is opposed by one or
both combatants; in the process, the neutrality that
distinguishes peacekeepers will most likely be lost.(For more information, refer to the Reference List.)
Peace enforcement has largely been avoided in the past. The level of violence encountered by peacekeeping operations in some areas (such as the 1994 events
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
in Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, where several Belgian soldiers were forced to watch the ongoing massacres and were ultimately killed themselves without being allowed to engage) has shocked the international community and led to unwillingness on the part of nations not otherwise involved to enter peacekeeping operations in potentially "hot" conflicts unless they have the ability to use force if necessary.