Has the UN been effective in its peacekeeping role?

UN and peacekeeping has been both effective and non effective when the cost of the conflicts and the final death toll are compared. A study by the Rand Corporation analysed eight  UN peacekeeping operations found that seven of them had succeeded in keeping the peace and six even began to promote democracy. These cases included the Congo, Cambodia, Namibia, Mozambique, El Salvador, East Timor, Eastern Slavonia and Sierra Leone. There has however been a substantial amount of peacekeeping failures , notably Rwanda, Somalia and Bosnia:

•  UN peacekeepers did not do much to stop the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
•  UN backed US intervention  in Somalia led to too great embarrassment after forced withdrawal in 1995. 
• The Bosnian-Serb military in 1995 carried out the worst  mass murder in Europe since the second world war in the "safe area" of Srebrenica, which had been under the protection of a UN regiment of Dutch peacekeepers.  

Critics say such events are evidence of the danger of intervention in foreign countries lacking cival order and legitimate political institutions, others argue that they highlight the flaws failings with the UN system. Failures on the ground could be due to:

• The lack of a clear mission. 
• The security challenges that that put peacekeepers at risk. 
• The varying quality of peacekeeping fores and a confusing chain of command.
• The reluctance to use force when faced with peace breakers who use force criminally.   

Failings at a higher level could be due to a lack of political will and conflicting priorities and agendas in the security council and among other member states, a recent example of this is the inability of the UN to take action in Syria because Russia and China are allies of Assad , both countries hold a veto so action against Assad is not possible.  

Their is however evidence to suggest than the UN has learn its lessons. In 1992 their was a UN report, "An Agenda for Peace" and ever since that report their has been an understanding that peacekeeping alone is not enough to ensure lasting peace. Their is now a growing emphasis on peace building that generates peace structures that will that will strengthen the peace in order to avoid  a relapse in to conflict , ensuring a positive peace. Although the military remain the key player in most peace keeping operations, other actors now include economists, administrators, legal experts, police officers, electoral observers, human rights monitors and specialists in civil affairs and governance. In 2005 the UN Peacebuilding Commission was established as an advisory subsidiary body of General Assembly and Security Council. It's purpose is to support peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict, by bringing together all relevant actors, marshaling resources, and advising on and proposing integrated strategies for post conflict and peace building and recovery. The downside to this is that being advisory means that the Peacebuilding Commission can accomplish little through its own efforts, the greater emphasis within the UN of peace building is an acknowledgement that classical peacekeeping is effectively obsolete and that peace enforcement  is always difficult and may only be possible under specific conditions. Peace building as a whole is promoting peace and security mixed with a commitment to economic and social development.