What color for the helmet? : major regional powers and their preferences for UN, regional or ad hoc coalition peace operations

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping operations have increasingly been launched by new actors (such as regional organizations and ad hoc coalitions) despite the continued and important role of the United Nations. What do major regional powers prefer? Do they opt for the UN, for 'coalitions of the willing', or for regional organizations when establishing peacekeeping missions? And do they tend to prefer one of the three? In this paper, I argue that major regional powers tend to deploy their troops with regional organizations or 'coalitions of the willing' when launching peacekeeping operations; I also try to develop possible explanations for this phenomenon. This research can make a contribution in an almost unexplored field of the literature and it can also tell us more about how core principles of peacekeeping are being modified by the emerging role of new actors.