Making the case for peacekeeping as proxy intervention

Since the end of the Cold War, peacekeeping has shifted from impartial mediation toward militarised intervention, a trend accelerating after 9/11. The article develops the concept of proxy peacekeeping to argue that peacekeeping can function as a form of proxy intervention, enabling troop-contributing countries (TCCs) to advance national security interests and manage regional threats under multilateral cover. Drawing on cases from Mali and Somalia, it shows how neighbouring TCCs instrumentalise peacekeeping to project influence, secure borders, and externalise risk, undermining mission impartiality and cohesion. It concludes by questioning proxy peacekeeping as a collective response to contemporary conflict management and resolution.