Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for the withdrawal of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, and headlines of rocket attacks resulting in numerous casualties, have brought to the forefront questions about the safety of U.N. peacekeepers and the utility of today’s peacekeeping enterprise. These developments highlight perennial challenges faced by peacekeepers worldwide: operating in volatile environments where escalating tensions can place them in harm’s way. Moreover, they illustrate the vastly different levels of risk tolerance between the United States and the United Nations.
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