Peacekeepers with Swords, not Plowshares
He shall judge between many peoples, And rebuke strong nations afar off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. -- Micah 4:3 Peacekeepers are, of course, an armed military force. Peace operations can take place in environments that range from permissive to hostile. True "peacekeeping" occurs in a permissive environment where both parties acquiesce to the presence of peacekeepers whose job is to monitor the agreed upon peace settlement. At the other end of the spectrum is peace enforcement. Peace enforcement imposes a settlement, by use or threat of force, on parties which may be unwilling to accept it. Depending on the circumstances, missions that begin with peacekeeping may have to transition rapidly to peace enforcement or even more intense combat operations. One (so-far) successful example of peacekeeping is the Multinational Force and Obs...