A few divisions within the United Nations have prepared several (military) peacekeeping missions since the organization’s existence. At first, few military conflicts dealt with traditional power play among the United Nations Security Council members (Russia, having the capacity to veto, with its disputes in Berlin 1948/1949, Korea 1950-1953). As a result, the organization’s effectiveness should have been influenced adversely.
During the Cold War, disputes and conflicts without the presence of the Security Council outside of Europe and the Soviet sphere of power were dealt with rather unilaterally, in contrast to Berlin and Korea. In the West, primarily and with minor exceptions, the USA was conducting military operations, claiming them to have a “peacekeeping” intent just as much as Russia did within the sphere defined by its president as a “peace-sphere.” While this operation continued during this period, the East-West proxy wars were conducted. During the Cold War’s later phase, the United Nations sent peacekeeping troops to the conflict areas between Iran and Iraq, with neither the Soviet Union nor the USA willing to contribute to the Blue Helmets.
International organizations offer another source of peacekeeping efforts. As soon as 1919, at the end of World War I, the League of Nations was seen as an instrument for world peace. However, it is essential to note that the peace efforts suggested by this organization have not been successful. Nevertheless, numerous institutions followed in the past 70 years, one of the most important being the “United Nations.” Initially, this international deliberative body was founded in 1945 by 50 actual states in the sense of a continuation of the “League of Nations.” The decision of the victorious powers regarding Japan and Germany after the Second World War provided the fundamental foundation for the United Nations and represented an important symbol of the eventual fall of barriers among former foes.