Peacekeeping at sea? a case study of the maritime task force in Lebanon

Résumé

Since the end of the Cold War, naval forces have become
more and more important to peacekeeping and conflict
management efforts, a novelty whose best example is
the Maritime Task Force (MTF) established within the
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The
objective of this work is to present the potentialities of the
employment of naval forces in peace operations to fulfil
their mandates through the case study of UNIFIL-MTF,
emphasizing the role played by Brazil and how it boosts the
country’s projection in international peace and security.
Using the operational concepts of “maritime interdiction”
and “peacekeeping”, this paper presents an overview of
the utility of naval forces in peace operations in general,
a brief background of the 2006 conflict in Lebanon, the
performance of UNIFIL-MTF and the importance of
the Task Force to the Brazilian participation in peace
operations. The main contribution of this research is to
fill a gap in the existing literature on the issue, which has
very few updated titles dedicated to this subject