The fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations was commemorated in 1995 with a number of conferences and publications which assessed the history and contemporary role of this paramount international organisation. This book is the result of a meeting of scholars and specialists who wished to further understanding of the challenges faced by the United Nations in its efforts to intervene in post-cold war conflict. In particular the experiences in Bosnia, Somalia and in Rwanda, where UN peacekeepers seemed powerless to act in the face of acts of genocide, gross violations of human rights and the widespread suffering caused by war, makes such an analysis timely and important.

TOM WOODHOUSE is Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Conflict Resolution in the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford. He is the editor of International Peacekeeping News. He has published widely in peace research and conflict resolution, including Peacemaking in a Troubled World and Humanitarian Intervention in Contemporary Conflict. ROBERT BRUCE is Associate Professor of Politics at the School of Social Sciences, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia MALCOLM DANDO is Professor of International Security in the Department of Peace, University of Bradford.