Developing a United Nations Emergency Peace Service

Meeting Our Responsibilities to Prevent and Protect

This book makes the case for a standing UN Emergency Peace Service. With this one development  - effectively a UN first responder for complex emergencies  - the organization would finally have a rapid, reliable capacity to help fulfill its tougher assigned tasks. To date, the UNEPS initiative has encountered an unreceptive political, fiscal, and security environment. Yet overlapping crises are now inevitable as are profound shifts. This book presents an insightful review of the worrisome security challenges ahead and analysis of two recent high-level UN reports. It addresses the primary roles, core principles, and requirements of a UNEPS, as well as the arguments for and against such a dedicated UN service. Further, it reveals that the primary impediments and lessons learned also help demonstrate what may work and, equally important, what won't. With modest support, the book shows, the next steps are feasible, although it's important to recall that ideas, even good ideas, don't work unless we do.