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The head of the United Nations peacekeeping department today praised the role played by blue helmets in recent months in Sudan, Haiti and Côte d’Ivoire, saying their presence made a critical difference during difficult operating circumstances.

Out of the UN comes a new idea for ending war. Peacebuilders: An intensive process that gives permission for foreign 'interference' in conflict resolution.

More than a week ago, a decisive meeting at the U.N. Security Council set in motion an armed intervention in Libya. In its wake, the U.N. secretary general has called on all members to support international action there. But how much does the global body’s stamp of approval matter? Having helped launch military strikes against the forces of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, is the United Nations capable of finding a way out of the crisis?

The danger with peacekeeping missions, Edward Luttwark argued in Foreign Affairs magazine in 1999, is that “peacekeepers disrupt the natural progress of a war.”

With a Republican Congress slashing budgets and eyeing UN funding, administration officials and think-tank types have ramped up their defense of UN activities. They should; there's a lot to be said in defense of the UN and peacekeeping in particular.

New York University's Center on International Cooperation is out with its annual Review of Global Peace Operations. It's a fantastic update on UN and non-UN peacekeeping operations around the world. It's also full of good data on where peacekeepers operate, who they are, and who funds them.