Peacekeeping after COVID-19

Abstract

The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic may not be a game changer for future peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, but it is likely to strengthen developments that have been on-going since the early 2010s. Since then, major global and regional powers have increasingly pursued self-interested policies, interventions have become less accepted by host countries, and the UN is more financially constrained. These developments all point towards fewer and smaller interventions. Responses to Covid-19 so far suggest these trends to continue. Arguably, this hampers effective and collaborative action against global challenges such as Covid-19.