Peace operations are commonly understood as the United Nations' authoritative interventions in civil wars or armed conflicts stemming from intrastate, interethnic, or sectarian conflicts, as well as political instability. In peace operations, the UN Security Council deploys external forces in host countries to minimize hostilities with a view to supporting the peace process through context-specific, bespoke activities, such as assisting with humanitarian needs and facilitating fair electoral processes.
With the decline of Cold War politics, peace operations have increasingly used military forces to intervene in armed conflicts, underscoring the importance of civil protection and humanitarian efforts. There are also failed missions like the mission in Rwanda in the 90s, which increased the number of military peacekeepers afterwards to intervene in intra-state and sectarian armed conflicts. The involvement of armed forces from Bangladesh was substantial during the last three decades in UN peace operations. The peacekeeping efforts of Bangladeshi uniformed peacekeepers have brought a positive image of Bangladesh internationally, which was usually negatively associated with poverty and natural disasters in the news and media. Bangladesh is one of the top contributing countries (TCC) in the 21st century and has received accolades for its multidimensional and robust peace building efforts.
Military peacekeepers are considered an effective force in assisting host countries in transitioning from chaos and conflict to peace. Members of the Bangladesh armed forces have made significant contributions to the peace process in many host countries by ensuring a secure environment that allows development and humanitarian activities to progress towards stability and good governance. However, the legitimacy and viability of using foreign forces have also brought fierce controversy in the face of host countries' sovereignty issues and thereby, peacekeepers have often been the target of armed rebels and have had to work under life-threatening risks.
Moreover, unprecedented problems continued to surface intermittently, making the conflicts more chaotic and complex. Beyond financial motivations, the Bangladesh armed forces participate in UN peacekeeping missions to uphold their constitutional commitment to maintaining peace and justice, with due respect for international law. However, nuance, unpredictability, and unforeseen challenges are intertwined with the surge of terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change, pandemic or epidemic situations, the threat of cyberattacks, etc. The article, therefore, discusses the contemporary challenges faced by Bangladeshi uniformed peacekeepers in affirming their leading role in UN missions in promoting international peace and security.
The Achievements of The Bangladesh Armed Forces in UN Peace Operations:Bangladesh armed forces first embarked on peacekeeping missions in 1988 by sending military observers to the UN Iran–Iraq Military Observation Group and soon became one of the predominant post-Cold War peacekeepers. Since then, Bangladeshi peacekeepers have served in missions in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia; however, Bangladesh was never a site for UN peacekeeping operations, unlike other troop-contributing countries in South Asia.
Over the years, with increased contributions and accolades, Bangladesh has emerged as one of the UN's most significant contributors of uniformed peacekeepers, with noteworthy contributions in UN peacekeeping missions in Rwanda, Mozambique, Somalia, Haiti, Angola, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, and parts of the former Yugoslavia. Particularly, the footprint left by Bangladeshi peacekeepers in nation-building efforts in countries like Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast, South Sudan, and Liberia is a source of pride for Bangladesh. As of May 31, 2025, 5,686 uniformed personnel (the majority of whom are members of the Bangladesh armed forces) have contributed to various peacekeeping missions, of whom 440 were female.
Sadly, 124 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have died while serving under the UN flag, and more than 130 have been seriously injured. Peacekeeping deployments not only provide financial benefits to the Bangladeshi military but also enhance the country's global diplomatic standing. Moreover, the Bangladesh Army can deploy one infantry unit within 48 hours of notice, as well as medical and engineering units that could be sent within a two- to three-week timeframe.
The contribute on of the armed forces of Bangladesh is praised as one of the key ingredients in international peacekeeping endeavours under the auspices of the UN. Bangladeshi peacekeepers have played significant peacekeeping roles in many of Africa's conflicts and received exceptional accolades; for instance, Sierra Leone declared Bengali the second language of the country as a token of gratitude for the efforts of Bangladeshi blue helmets. Bangladesh also made a significant contribution in Somalia during the 90s to ensure the safe exit of troops from Europe and America from intense, deteriorating situations. However, Bangladeshi peacekeepers were also part of unsuccessful missions, such as the Rwanda mission, which nonetheless provided a critical learning experience for the skill set developed by the Bangladesh armed forces to pursue subsequent missions.
Context-Specific Conflict Management: Transition from Peacekeeping to Peacebuilding:The crisis in the Middle East led to the creation of the 'UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO)' in 1948 with the deployment of uniformed UN observers to monitor various interstate conflicts worldwide at the height of Cold War politics and decolonization. After the downfall of the Cold War era, with increasing states of brutality stemming from inter-ethnic, intra-state, and sectarian conflicts, the mandates and functionality of the peacekeeping operations have been changed drastically since the early 1990s. Contemporary peacekeeping operations are complex and multidimensional, delivering a diverse range of functions in support of good governance, fair electoral processes, reforming a state's security structure, and the protection of human rights. Therefore, modern-day peacekeeping operations require a greater degree of coordination amongst all actors, prioritising the protection of civilians as outlined in Chapter VII of the UN Security Council Charter.
Every mission is unique in terms of its geopolitical context, the nature of the crisis, and the extent of the conflict, all of which contribute to progress towards a meaningful peacebuilding process. Nonetheless, UN deployments routinely confront life-threatening threats from armed rebels and terrorist groups. Since the military component plays an important role in conflict resolution, the current mission environments are critical and challenging for armed forces to mediate intra-state and sectarian tensions, de-escalate potential violence, and safeguard civilians and foreign delegates. Though most of the UN peacekeeping operations are considered successful, there are failed missions that have raised grave concerns and criticism of the UN, such as the horrific genocide of Rwanda in 1994 and the Bosnian genocide during 1992-1995. Therefore, the peacebuilding process amid social unrest and political instability is ever revolving with unforeseen threats and myriad challenges, which demand systemic, agile, and bespoke interventions at all stages.
In modern-day multidimensional missions, the success of the peacebuilding process depends on the conflict resolution efforts at the state, national and international levels. Therefore, the armed forces often perform advocacy roles by undertaking public engagement and outreach activities to bridge socio-political gaps between the government and belligerent groups. By remaining impartial in the state's internal affairs, the military can in still confidence in political leadership by facilitating dialogues among conflicting parties, stakeholders, and the local population. As foreign troops and uniformed peacekeepers, they should prioritise the protection of civilians and intervene to ensure the security of individuals, underpinned by International Humanitarian Law.
Challenges In the Future for Uniformed Bangladeshi Peacekeepers:Peacekeeping today is a very high-risk endeavour. Though there are no guarantees of success, yet it remains true that a war-torn country has a better chance of emerging from conflict and maintaining peace through a peace operation. The process of peace-making is incredibly laborious and complex, as it involves resolving conflicts and ending hostilities to achieve peace. The process is complex and time-sensitive, aiming to bring all confrontational and diverse communities under the same umbrella within a constitutional framework.
Moreover, peacebuilding activities are risky, often life-threatening, like targeted killings or kidnappings of the foreign peacekeepers, as they propagate further dissatisfaction among the rebel and terrorist groups. Present-day conflicts occur amid political instability with the absence of adequate and good governance, which poses more risks and security concerns for blue helmet professionals from armed forces. With poverty and lawlessness, crime, illegal activities, and gang cultures continue to thrive. Illegal trades are proliferating and funding illegitimate arms for the rebel and terrorist groups, which triggers unpredictable risks to civilians and peacekeepers. Uncontrolled use of arms, drugs, child soldiers, etc., is likely to exploit the local population or hold them hostage in terms of fuelling the factions.
Increasingly, UN missions are being carried out in remote locations with uncertain geography; therefore, the risk of serious injury or death of the peacekeepers is higher in such contexts. Other alarming factors are the new generation of weapons and sophisticated technology like missiles and exploding drones, the use of social media and the dark web for the recruitment of terrorists, and money laundering—all of which contribute to the very chaotic situations and unpredictable events in which the UN peace operations take place. Failure to resolve this crisis contributes to fears of ethnic reprisals, consistent bloodshed, and continuing mayhem throughout the region and beyond.
Bringing socio-political stability in such a setting is, therefore, the most challenging task for peacekeepers, which requires full-spectrum support from the international community.
UN peacekeeping missions generate significant revenue for military personnel and the armed forces in Bangladesh, which sustains the synergy and motivation for deploying troops to various UN missions. Through its participation in peacekeeping missions, Bangladesh upholds its foreign policy and constitutional obligations to international peace and the aspirations of humanity, as Article 25 of the Bangladesh Constitution mandates the promotion of' promoting international peace, security, and solidarity.' However, the scope of engaging Bangladeshi peacekeepers in UN peace operations is shrinking as new countries, such as Ghana, are now prioritized in peace missions. Peacekeepers must operate amid such complex environments that require rigorous training and preparedness with robust combat motivations. The multidimensional and integrated operations of contemporary times require an appropriate skill set and contextual knowledge to pursue peacebuilding missions effectively, utilizing resources optimally to safeguard themselves from context-specific crises, risks and challenges.
The Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training (BIPSOT) has been providing comprehensive and multidimensional training and courses to prepare peacekeepers for the multifaceted challenges, emphasizing in-depth analysis of conflict dynamics, human security concerns, asymmetric threat perspectives, policies, and best practices in peacekeeping. While the achievements from peacebuilding efforts have made Bangladeshi peacekeepers and civilians proud, there should be intense policy planning and resource allocation to support the country's successful involvement and unique achievements in peacekeeping missions in the future.
-The writer is an Army Officer
