The Neutrality of United Nations Peacekeeping Missions: An Analysis from the Cases of Somalia and Rwanda

Abstract

United Nations peacekeeping missions are one of the Organization responses in order to fulfill its purpose of ensuring peace and security. As a rule, they should be deployed with the consent of the host state, not engage in combat except for self-defense, and maintain strict neutrality with regard to the conflicting parties, thus preventing the United Nations to become part of war, preserve State sovereignty and escape from the charge of implementing a “multilateral colonialism”. In this article about the cases of Rwanda and Somalia, we analyze how the lack of pragmatic management of neutrality in peacekeeping missions may undermine the success of the mission and worse, may lead to escalation of conflict, worsen the fate of civilians and humanitarian calamities in its worst.