The Force Intervention Brigade A Conscious Departure

Abstract

This article examines lessons learned from the Force Intervention Brigade in relation to the fundamental principles of peacekeeping. Whilst the Security Council declared that the Brigade, deployed in the DR Congo in 2013, was created ‘without a precedent or any prejudice to the agreed principles of peacekeeping’ this article will consider how it has challenged our understanding of these principles and will question to what extent a precedent has been set within peacekeeping. As the UN’s peace operation in the Congo, MONUSCO, is set to withdraw and regional actors involved in the creation of the Brigade seek to deploy forces, the article will argue that the Brigade expanded peacekeeping to its very limits, amounting to a ‘conscious departure’ from the peacekeeping principles which should be avoided in any future UN peace operations.