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Analyzes various proposals for a permanent force; structure, training, administration, and other characteristics.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited ; Rapid changes have characterized international relations since the end of the Cold War. Transitioning democracies have been the scene of often-violent change, enduring civil war, political and economic struggle, and ethnic strife. Transitioning nations increasingly need peacekeeping operations to maximize their chances for success. Historically however, peacekeeping operations created by the United Nations have been ad hoc "coalitions of the willing" and have not been conducive to establishing professional peacekeeping forces. This thesis proposes that the more professional the peacekeeping operation, the higher the chance of success for the peacekeeping mission. The need for change to professional peacekeeping is particularly true for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The development of standing national forces designed and trained to act in crisis management and peacekeeping operations is critical for success. Using the Polish-Ukrainian Peacekeeping Battalion (UKRPOLBAT) as a model, a separate brigade within the Ukrainian Armed Forces should be established to specifically and only perform peacekeeping missions. Thus, this unit could be used as a springboard to begin the professionalization of peacekeeping not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe and the rest of the world.

U.N. peacekeeping missions succeed in preventing the resumption of conflict and saving lives. At the same time, a series of sexual exploitation and abuse scandals since the early 2000s has raised concerns about the conduct of peacekeepers. We examine a related, but generally overlooked, potential negative externality of peacekeeping missions: the forced trafficking of sex workers. We argue that U.N. peacekeepers increase demand for sex work and that this demand may be met through human trafficking for forced prostitution. Using data on U.N. peacekeeping missions between 2001 and 2011, we evaluate the effect of a peacekeeper presence on human sex trafficking in and around the host state. We find that the presence of U.N. peacekeeping forces correlates positively with a state being cited as a destination for forced prostitution. This has important implications for the future deployment of peacekeeping forces around the world.