Peacekeeping forces are normally lightly armed or completely unarmed and utilize the least necessary force. Peace enforcement is whereby the UN uses the assets of the military to enforce peace on conflicting parties against the will of the parties, for illustration, when a truce has failed (Bellamy et al. 2010, p.48). Peace enforcement surpasses the peacekeeping forces’ capacity and is therefore perfectly executed through use of heavily armed forces.

According to Durch and England (2009), no formal doctrine exists for UN peacekeeping. Instead, the peacekeeping principles emerge from the reflections on practice. While the 2008 “Capstone Doctrine” of the UN is no official document, it is a representation of an effort to codify the principles. The basic principles of the UN peacekeeping include minimum application of force, consent, and impartiality. Consent ensures that the UN gains the cooperation of the conflicting parties. Lack of consent makes it difficult for the UN to ensure peace since peacekeeping forces are never equipped for peace enforcement. However, withdrawal of consent is possible or it may not attain all authority levels (strategic, tactical, and political), particularly situations that involve irregular forces, which renders its maintenance indecisive. Impartiality implies that application of the peacekeeping mandate should be done without prejudice or favor to any party. It however does not imply the even-handedness or neutrality of peacekeepers rather. the peacekeepers must strictly adhere to their mandate’s terms and not be prejudiced. The use of no force (unless in self-defense and in the mandate’s defense) reveals the reality that peacekeepers are operating with the conflicting parties consent and thus must not employ force in their operations. In case force is employed, then it must be precise and calibrated and in agreement with International Humanitarian Law (Piotrowicz, 2011, p.186).&nbsp.