Keeping the Peace Without Finding Peace

In the middle of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, streets suddenly end at barriers, buildings sit abandoned, and United Nations peacekeepers patrol a buffer zone dividing the city. Decades later, Cyprus still has no final political settlement, but it has avoided returning to widespread violence. This raises an important question: can a peacekeeping mission be considered successful if it keeps the peace without actually achieving peace?

The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, known as UNFICYP, is one of the longest running peacekeeping missions in the world. Its history shows both what UN peacekeeping can accomplish and where its limits are.

In the 1960s Cyprus gained independence from British rule and in its new political system attempted to balance power between the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The balance in power was an attempt at peace and equal representation but disagreements over political representation and the future of the island increased tensions.  By December 1963, intercommunal violence had broken out.

As a response to the violence, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 186 in March 1964, establishing the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, known as UNFICYP. The UNFICYP was responsible for preventing renewed fighting, helping maintain law and order, and contributing to a return to normal conditions.

The situation changed dramatically in 1974 when a coup backed by the Greek military junta and aimed at union with Greece was followed by a Turkish military intervention. The events divided the island, displaced large numbers of people, and changed UNFICYP's responsibilities. A ceasefire took effect in August 1974, and UN peacekeepers began supervising the ceasefire lines and maintaining the area separating the opposing forces.

Through my research, I found one of the most striking reminders of the conflict: the UN controlled buffer zone, known as the Green Line. This buffer zone stretches 180 kilometers across Cyprus. In the middle of a modern European capital, streets reach barriers, buildings sit abandoned, and UN peacekeepers continue to monitor a division created more than half a century ago. Inside the buffer zone, the island’s former primary airport became part of a United Nations Protected Area during the fighting in 1974 and has remained closed ever since.

More than 150,000 peacekeepers have served with UNFICYP since it was created. For decades, they have patrolled ceasefire lines, stopped incidents from becoming larger conflicts, helped communication between the two sides, supported humanitarian work, and created opportunities for cooperation between communities. A lot of this work receives little international attention because the conflict has not returned to large scale violence.

But peacekeeping cannot substitute for political resolution. A buffer zone can separate opposing forces, peacekeepers can prevent an incident from becoming a larger confrontation, and international institutions can create spaces for dialogue. However, they cannot force the two sides to reconcile or reach a final agreement.

More than sixty years after UNFICYP was created, Cyprus remains divided, with Greek Cypriots primarily living in the south and Turkish Cypriots primarily living in the north. There is still no final political settlement, but the conflict has also not returned to war. This shows both the success and the limits of the mission.

Cyprus demonstrates an uncomfortable reality about international peacekeeping: preventing violence and creating peace are not always the same thing. Peacekeepers can maintain ceasefires, reduce tensions, protect communities, and create space for negotiations, but they cannot force political reconciliation. That responsibility ultimately remains with political leaders and the communities involved.

For people in Colorado and elsewhere who may encounter United Nations peacekeeping mainly through headlines, Cyprus offers an important reminder that some of the UN's most consequential work happens quietly. 

So how should we measure the success of a peacekeeping mission: by whether it creates a final peace agreement, or by whether it prevents a conflict from returning to war?

Sources

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “About the Mission.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/about-unficyp

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “Mandate.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/mandate

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “About the Buffer Zone.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/about-buffer-zone

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “Events in the Summer of 1974.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/node/73113

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “The United Nations Protected Area and Old Nicosia Airport.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/node/73118

United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). “60 Years in the Service of Peace.”
https://unficyp.unmissions.org/en/node/73056