How Can the United Nations Enhance Its Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention Mechanisms to Effectively Address the Outbreak of Hot Wars?

Research Article
Open access

How Can the United Nations Enhance Its Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention Mechanisms to Effectively Address the Outbreak of Hot Wars?

Jiarui Kang 1*
  • 1 East China University of Political Science and Law    
  • *corresponding author kittykangk@sina.com
LNEP Vol.96
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-123-5
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-124-2

Abstract

This research aims to explore how to improve the United Nations' early warning, intervention, and conflict prevention capabilities in response to the outbreak of hot wars through multi-level institutional reforms. Through in-depth analysis of typical cases such as the Ukrainian crisis, the Rwandan genocide and the South Sudanese civil war, the research reveals the serious deficiencies of the traditional UN peacekeeping model in terms of intelligence sharing, decision-making mechanisms and resource allocation, and analyzes the legal and institutional challenges brought about by new hybrid wars and non-traditional conflicts. Based on theoretical and empirical research, this research proposes reform suggestions such as building an international legal framework that adapts to new conflicts, optimizing the Security Council's decision-making mechanism (including restricting the veto power and granting the Secretary-General emergency intervention authority), and building an efficient resource and intelligence sharing system. These suggestions not only focus on the supplementation and revision of legal provisions but also emphasize multilateral coordination at the political and technical levels, in order to provide practical and feasible institutional support for the United Nations to achieve "early warning, rapid intervention and strong execution" in global security governance. The research finally points out that future research should further focus on the application of new technologies in intelligence integration and risk prediction, as well as the actual effects of relevant international law revisions and political practices, so as to provide more systematic and in-depth theoretical support and practical guidance for the continuous improvement of UN peacekeeping operations.

Keywords:

UN peacekeeping, hot war, hybrid warfare, international law

Kang,J. (2025). How Can the United Nations Enhance Its Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention Mechanisms to Effectively Address the Outbreak of Hot Wars?. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,96,74-88.
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References

[1]. Korhonen, Outi. 2015. "Deconstructing the Conflict in Ukraine: The Relevance of International Law to Hybrid States and Wars." German Law Journal.

[2]. Rubin, Barnett R., and Bruce D. Jones. 2007. "Prevention of Violent Conflict: Tasks and Challenges for the United Nations." Global Governance 13 (3).

[3]. Sheehan, Nadège. 2008. "United Nations Peacekeeping: Limitations and Prospects." The Economics of Peace and Security Journal 3 (2).

[4]. Hultman, Lisa, Jacob Kathman, and Megan Shannon. 2013. "Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting." SSRN.

[5]. Jones, Bruce. 2015. "United Nations Peacekeeping and Opportunities for Reform." Brookings, December 9. https://www.brookings.edu/researchs/united-nations-peacekeeping-and-opportunities-for-reform/.

[6]. Ingram, Gregory, and Stefan Reichle. n.d. "Why the U.S. Needs U.N. Peacekeeping." Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/researchs/why-the-u-s-needs-u-n-peacekeeping/.

[7]. United Nations. (2008). United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines. International Peacekeeping, 15(5), 742–799. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533310802396475.

[8]. Year: 2006), U. S. C. (61st. (2006). Resolution 1674 (2006) /: adopted by the Security Council at its 5430th meeting, on 28 April 2006. Digitallibrary.un.org. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/573969.

[9]. S/RES/1325. Security Council Resolution on women and peace and security | UN Peacemaker. (2000, October). Un.org. https://peacemaker.un.org/en/documents/sres1325-security-council-resolution-women-and-peace-and-security.

[10]. Mearsheimer, John J. "The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis." The National Interest 23 (2022).

[11]. Tagarev, T. (2018). Hybrid Warfare: Emerging Research Topics. Information & Security: An International Journal, 39(3), 289–300. https://doi.org/10.11610/isij.3924.

[12]. LANOSZKA, A. (2016). Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe. International Affairs, 92(1), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12509.

[13]. Whitmee, S., Haines, A., Beyrer, C., Boltz, F., Capon, A. G., de Souza Dias, B. F., Ezeh, A., Frumkin, H., Gong, P., Head, P., Horton, R., Mace, G. M., Marten, R., Myers, S. S., Nishtar, S., Osofsky, S. A., Pattanayak, S. K., Pongsiri, M. J., Romanelli, C., & Soucat, A. (2015). Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health. The Lancet, 386(10007), 1973–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60901-1.

[14]. Branham, L. (2023). Virtual Immersive Contact: A Field Experiment to Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination in Central African Republic. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 002200272311800-002200272311800. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220027231180098.

[15]. Boege, V., Brown, A., Clements, K., & Nolan, A. (2009). Building Peace and Political Community in Hybrid Political Orders. International Peacekeeping, 16(5), 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533310903303248

[16]. Pentassuglia, G. (2007). Reforming the UN Human Rights Machinery: What Does the Future Hold for the Protection of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples? An Introduction. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 14(2-3), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.1163/138548707x208782.

[17]. ‌‌Oppusunggu, Y. U. (2011). Mandatory Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibilities in the New Indonesian Limited Liability Law. Indonesia Law Review, 1(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.15742/ilrev.v1n1.93.

[18]. Hegre, Håvard, Lisa Hultman, and Haakon G. Nygård. 2019. "Evaluating the Conflict-Reducing Effect of UN Peacekeeping Operations." The Journal of Politics 81 (1): 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1086/700203.

[19]. Li, J., & Wu, D. (Andrew). (2020). Do Corporate Social Responsibility Engagements Lead to Real Environmental, Social, and Governance Impact? Management Science, 66(6), 2564–2588. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3324.

[20]. United Nations. 2023. "Resolution 2709 (Central African Republic) S/RES/2709." Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, November 20. https://www.globalr2p.org/resources/resolution-2709-central-african-republic-s-res-2709/.

[21]. Mbah, R. E., and D. F. Wasum. "Russian-Ukraine 2022 War: A Review of the Economic Impact of Russian-Ukraine Crisis on the USA, UK, Canada, and Europe." Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal 9, no. 3 (2022): 144–153.

[22]. Hunter, Robert. "The Ukraine Crisis: Why and What Now?" In Survival, February–March 2022, 7–28. Routledge, 2023.

[23]. Wilson, Andrew. Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West. Yale University Press, 2014.

[24]. Lepskiy, M., and N. Lepska. "The War in Ukraine and Its Challenge to NATO: Peacekeeping to Peace Engineering." American Behavioral Scientist 67, no. 3 (2023): 402–425.

[25]. McFaul, Michael, Stephen Sestanovich, and John J. Mearsheimer. "Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?" Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6 (2014): 167–178.

[26]. Hintjens, Helen M. "Explaining the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda." The Journal of Modern African Studies 37, no. 2 (1999): 241–286.

[27]. Dallaire, Roméo. Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2019.

[28]. Van Beurden, M. G. "The Rwandan Genocide, 1994." In The Holocaust and Other Genocides: An Introduction, 97–119. Amsterdam University Press, 2012.

[29]. Moshman, David. "Theories of Self and Theories as Selves: Identity in Rwanda." In Changing Conceptions of Psychological Life, 183–206. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

[30]. Caplan, Gerald, and Linda Melvern. 2000. “A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide.” International Journal 56 (1): 176. https://doi.org/10.2307/40203545.

[31]. Murithi, Tim. "The Failure of the United Nations Security Council in Creating the Framework Conditions for Mediation in the Russia-Ukraine Crisis." The Strategic Review for Southern Africa 44, no. 1 (2022)

[32]. De Waal, Alex. "When Kleptocracy Becomes Insolvent: Brute Causes of the Civil War in South Sudan." African Affairs 113, no. 452 (2014): 347–369.

[33]. Rolandsen, Øystein H. "Another Civil War in South Sudan: The Failure of Guerrilla Government?" Journal of Eastern African Studies 9, no. 1 (2015): 163–174.

[34]. LANOSZKA, A. (2016). Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe. International Affairs, 92(1), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12509.

[35]. Des Forges, Alison. "Land in Rwanda: Winnowing Out the Chaff." In Reytjens, P., 2005–2006, 2006.

[36]. Eriksson, John, Howard Adelman, John Borton, Hanne Christensen, Krishna Kumar, Astri Suhrke, David Tardif-Douglin, Stein Villumstad, and Lennart Wohlgemuth. 1996. “The International Response to Conflict and Genocide: Lessons from the Rwanda Experience Synthesis Report,” March.

[37]. Olsson, Louise, Angela Muvumba Sellström, Stephen Moncrief, Elisabeth Jean Wood, Karin Johansson, Walter Lotze, Chiara Ruffa, Amelia Hoover Green, Ann Kristin Sjöberg, and Roudabeh Kishi. "Peacekeeping Prevention: Strengthening Efforts to Preempt Conflict-Related Sexual Violence." International Peacekeeping 27, no. 4 (2020).

Cite this article

Kang,J. (2025). How Can the United Nations Enhance Its Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention Mechanisms to Effectively Address the Outbreak of Hot Wars?. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,96,74-88.

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Volume title: Proceeding of ICGPSH 2025 Symposium: International Relations and Global Governance

ISBN：978-1-80590-123-5(Print) / 978-1-80590-124-2(Online)
Editor：Enrique Mallen, Ifa Khan
Conference website: https://www.icgpsh.org/Boston.html
Conference date: 18 May 2025
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.96
ISSN：2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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References

[1]. Korhonen, Outi. 2015. "Deconstructing the Conflict in Ukraine: The Relevance of International Law to Hybrid States and Wars." German Law Journal.

[2]. Rubin, Barnett R., and Bruce D. Jones. 2007. "Prevention of Violent Conflict: Tasks and Challenges for the United Nations." Global Governance 13 (3).

[3]. Sheehan, Nadège. 2008. "United Nations Peacekeeping: Limitations and Prospects." The Economics of Peace and Security Journal 3 (2).

[4]. Hultman, Lisa, Jacob Kathman, and Megan Shannon. 2013. "Beyond Keeping Peace: United Nations Effectiveness in the Midst of Fighting." SSRN.

[5]. Jones, Bruce. 2015. "United Nations Peacekeeping and Opportunities for Reform." Brookings, December 9. https://www.brookings.edu/researchs/united-nations-peacekeeping-and-opportunities-for-reform/.

[6]. Ingram, Gregory, and Stefan Reichle. n.d. "Why the U.S. Needs U.N. Peacekeeping." Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/researchs/why-the-u-s-needs-u-n-peacekeeping/.

[7]. United Nations. (2008). United Nations Peacekeeping Operations: Principles and Guidelines. International Peacekeeping, 15(5), 742–799. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533310802396475.

[8]. Year: 2006), U. S. C. (61st. (2006). Resolution 1674 (2006) /: adopted by the Security Council at its 5430th meeting, on 28 April 2006. Digitallibrary.un.org. https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/573969.

[9]. S/RES/1325. Security Council Resolution on women and peace and security | UN Peacemaker. (2000, October). Un.org. https://peacemaker.un.org/en/documents/sres1325-security-council-resolution-women-and-peace-and-security.

[10]. Mearsheimer, John J. "The Causes and Consequences of the Ukraine Crisis." The National Interest 23 (2022).

[11]. Tagarev, T. (2018). Hybrid Warfare: Emerging Research Topics. Information & Security: An International Journal, 39(3), 289–300. https://doi.org/10.11610/isij.3924.

[12]. LANOSZKA, A. (2016). Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe. International Affairs, 92(1), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12509.

[13]. Whitmee, S., Haines, A., Beyrer, C., Boltz, F., Capon, A. G., de Souza Dias, B. F., Ezeh, A., Frumkin, H., Gong, P., Head, P., Horton, R., Mace, G. M., Marten, R., Myers, S. S., Nishtar, S., Osofsky, S. A., Pattanayak, S. K., Pongsiri, M. J., Romanelli, C., & Soucat, A. (2015). Safeguarding human health in the Anthropocene epoch: report of The Rockefeller Foundation–Lancet Commission on planetary health. The Lancet, 386(10007), 1973–2028. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(15)60901-1.

[14]. Branham, L. (2023). Virtual Immersive Contact: A Field Experiment to Reduce Prejudice and Discrimination in Central African Republic. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 002200272311800-002200272311800. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220027231180098.

[15]. Boege, V., Brown, A., Clements, K., & Nolan, A. (2009). Building Peace and Political Community in Hybrid Political Orders. International Peacekeeping, 16(5), 599–615. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533310903303248

[16]. Pentassuglia, G. (2007). Reforming the UN Human Rights Machinery: What Does the Future Hold for the Protection of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples? An Introduction. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 14(2-3), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.1163/138548707x208782.

[17]. ‌‌Oppusunggu, Y. U. (2011). Mandatory Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibilities in the New Indonesian Limited Liability Law. Indonesia Law Review, 1(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.15742/ilrev.v1n1.93.

[18]. Hegre, Håvard, Lisa Hultman, and Haakon G. Nygård. 2019. "Evaluating the Conflict-Reducing Effect of UN Peacekeeping Operations." The Journal of Politics 81 (1): 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1086/700203.

[19]. Li, J., & Wu, D. (Andrew). (2020). Do Corporate Social Responsibility Engagements Lead to Real Environmental, Social, and Governance Impact? Management Science, 66(6), 2564–2588. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3324.

[20]. United Nations. 2023. "Resolution 2709 (Central African Republic) S/RES/2709." Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, November 20. https://www.globalr2p.org/resources/resolution-2709-central-african-republic-s-res-2709/.

[21]. Mbah, R. E., and D. F. Wasum. "Russian-Ukraine 2022 War: A Review of the Economic Impact of Russian-Ukraine Crisis on the USA, UK, Canada, and Europe." Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal 9, no. 3 (2022): 144–153.

[22]. Hunter, Robert. "The Ukraine Crisis: Why and What Now?" In Survival, February–March 2022, 7–28. Routledge, 2023.

[23]. Wilson, Andrew. Ukraine Crisis: What It Means for the West. Yale University Press, 2014.

[24]. Lepskiy, M., and N. Lepska. "The War in Ukraine and Its Challenge to NATO: Peacekeeping to Peace Engineering." American Behavioral Scientist 67, no. 3 (2023): 402–425.

[25]. McFaul, Michael, Stephen Sestanovich, and John J. Mearsheimer. "Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?" Foreign Affairs 93, no. 6 (2014): 167–178.

[26]. Hintjens, Helen M. "Explaining the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda." The Journal of Modern African Studies 37, no. 2 (1999): 241–286.

[27]. Dallaire, Roméo. Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2019.

[28]. Van Beurden, M. G. "The Rwandan Genocide, 1994." In The Holocaust and Other Genocides: An Introduction, 97–119. Amsterdam University Press, 2012.

[29]. Moshman, David. "Theories of Self and Theories as Selves: Identity in Rwanda." In Changing Conceptions of Psychological Life, 183–206. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

[30]. Caplan, Gerald, and Linda Melvern. 2000. “A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda’s Genocide.” International Journal 56 (1): 176. https://doi.org/10.2307/40203545.

[31]. Murithi, Tim. "The Failure of the United Nations Security Council in Creating the Framework Conditions for Mediation in the Russia-Ukraine Crisis." The Strategic Review for Southern Africa 44, no. 1 (2022)

[32]. De Waal, Alex. "When Kleptocracy Becomes Insolvent: Brute Causes of the Civil War in South Sudan." African Affairs 113, no. 452 (2014): 347–369.

[33]. Rolandsen, Øystein H. "Another Civil War in South Sudan: The Failure of Guerrilla Government?" Journal of Eastern African Studies 9, no. 1 (2015): 163–174.

[34]. LANOSZKA, A. (2016). Russian hybrid warfare and extended deterrence in eastern Europe. International Affairs, 92(1), 175–195. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2346.12509.

[35]. Des Forges, Alison. "Land in Rwanda: Winnowing Out the Chaff." In Reytjens, P., 2005–2006, 2006.

[36]. Eriksson, John, Howard Adelman, John Borton, Hanne Christensen, Krishna Kumar, Astri Suhrke, David Tardif-Douglin, Stein Villumstad, and Lennart Wohlgemuth. 1996. “The International Response to Conflict and Genocide: Lessons from the Rwanda Experience Synthesis Report,” March.

[37]. Olsson, Louise, Angela Muvumba Sellström, Stephen Moncrief, Elisabeth Jean Wood, Karin Johansson, Walter Lotze, Chiara Ruffa, Amelia Hoover Green, Ann Kristin Sjöberg, and Roudabeh Kishi. "Peacekeeping Prevention: Strengthening Efforts to Preempt Conflict-Related Sexual Violence." International Peacekeeping 27, no. 4 (2020).

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