As long as there have been wars, there have been peace processes to settle them. In the 12th century BC, the Egyptians and Hittites concluded one of the earliest peace treaties still in existence. Peacekeeping as understood as a modern concept emerged out of the League of Nations after World War I. The League fielded many international military operations that were essentially deployments by the victorious Allied powers to oversee local plebiscites. Peacekeeping operations have evolved to become essential elements in most international attempts to guide belligerents through a peace process. Peacekeeping operations can be great examples of the international community cooperating to help settle a crisis.
Historical Dictionary of Multinational Peacekeeping: Third Edition is a single source research guide for current and completed peacekeeping operations. With an extensive chronology; an introductory essay; an appendix with the mandates for three UN peacekeeping operations; a research oriented bibliography based on numerous categories of peacekeeping operations and issues related to peacekeeping; 32 photographs of UN, EU, and NATO peacekeeping operations; and over 500 cross referenced dictionary entries on peacekeeping operations, people, organizations, countries, and events associated with peacekeeping and brief descriptions of all currently fielded operations as well as those that have completed their missions dating back to the League of Nations in 1920.